Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype
by Jan of Arc
Summary: 2nd part of my 'deid' series. Sookie finds out that vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble? You will need to read DTiD first.
1. Eric tries tae be gallus

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

Summary: Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble? You **will** need to read Deid Til its Daurk to understand the characters in this story.

Spoilers: All books.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to C. Harris.

_A/N: There is a lot more Glaswegien Dialogue in this fic than there was in DTiD. Please let me know if you need a translation and I'll edit the content to include them._

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

Andre left Merlotte's feeling frustrated and very, very angry. The Stackhouse girl had lied to him, lied to his face. It was obvious to him she hadn't been under his influence; any vampire with experience knew when a human was truly glamoured. This had been the first time he had come across one that his glamour didn't work on and it had been obvious as soon as she opened her mouth. The fact that she had lied to him confirmed everything, but the Queen had given express orders. She was not to be forced, she was not to be harmed but she was to be ... convinced to use her talents for the Queen's benefit.

Compton had severely miscalculated his approach. When he spoke of his plan to Andre, the older vampire scoffed. But Bill had been adamant that the girl's southern values would ensure she would not let him come to harm. In her haste to reveal all about Sookie's special gift, Hadley had neglected to tell them that Sookie hadn't been brought up with southern values. Andre pulled up outside the bar and tried to reel in his emotions. The telepath was to be buttered up and have her talents assessed and improved if required. He had neither the time or inclination for this task and the only other Vampire in Sophie-Ann's retinue that could be trusted with such a task owned the bar he was about to enter.

~v~

Sookie was still shaking from her experience with the vampire when she arrived back home. As usual, Adele had waited up for her Granddaughter and was shocked to see her in such a state. Sookie explained what had happened, and her cousin's involvement in it.

"Why would Hadley tell vampires you were a telepath? It's always been a family secret, how could she turn on her family like that?"

"I dunno Gran. All I know is that she told the vampires I had a gift. Maybe they threatened her or she owed them somethin'. Maybe she wanted somethin' fae them."

Adele laughed but stopped abruptly. "What ... what would Hadley want from a vampire?" Recognition shone in Sookie's eyes and it wasn't long before Adele thoughts matched the telepath's. "She's one of the undead now, isn't she?"

Sookie shrugged. "Seems like the most likely scenario. 'Turn me and I'll tell you about my special cousin'."

Adele shook her head in bewilderment, but her expression soon turned to anger and her face reddened with rage. "Of all the ... selfish ... stupid ... _dangerous_ things to do!"

"This is _Hadley_ we're talkin' about." Sookie snorted. "What made ye think she'd be sensible about things?"

~v~

Eric was in his office at Fangtasia, going over the inventory from the last stock take. His office door opened and without raising his head he questioned his second, and child, Pam.

"Pam, do we know who is helping themselves to the Maker's Mark yet? That's another 4 bottles gone missing. I'm going to start cracking alcoholic skulls if we don't have the perpetrator by tomorrow."

"Nice to see you're on top of things Northman."

Eric raised his head, eyes wide to look upon his Queen's lieutenant in the doorway. Pam stood behind Andre with her head dipped in deference. "Andre, I apologise. I wasn't informed you would be visiting."

"That would be because _I_ didn't know I would be visiting. There's a bar manager, in Bon Temps, I want you to keep an eye on her."

"Sookie Stackhouse?"

Andre's eyes flashed with surprise. "You know her?"

"Yes, I had cause to visit the ... establishment a few weeks ago. I received a call from the owner, Sam Merlotte, not a call really. He must have dialled our number before the vampire who killed him struck."

"The vampire was Bill Compton. He returned to Bon Temps as it was his ancestral home. His final death was at the hands of the Stackhouse woman – we want her watched."

Eric was confused but hid it well. "Mr. Compton's final death happened as Miss Stackhouse attempted to save her employer. I don't see why this would warrant surveillance."

"That is not your call Eric. Watch her, befriend her even; she mistrusts vampires after the incident with Bill. The Queen would like this human to get used to being around Vampires. Those are your orders, do not question them."

"Of course, Andre." Eric bowed from the neck as Andre left; Pam copied her maker's actions. Neither lifting their heads until they knew he was out of sight.

"So, what's so interesting about this Stackhouse girl?" Pam sat in the chair on the other side of Eric's desk.

"You mean apart from the fact she managed to send a 180 year old vampire to his final death? Apart from the fact the Queen of Louisiana wants her to trust Vampires?" Eric smirked. "I have no idea, but if I'm to befriend her – maybe I'll find out."

~v~

The next morning, after a long conversation about worst case scenarios, Adele and Sookie decided to circle the wagons and call Jason to the family meeting. Sookie had spoken of how the supernatural world wasn't above using the ones you love to make you do what they wanted. And if they were interested in Sookie, the both Adele and Jason were in danger. His phone at home went unanswered and his cell phone went straight to voicemail. Sookie decided to call Jason's best friend, Hoyt, to finds out where her brother was.

"_Hi this is Hoyt!"_

"Hoyt, its Sookie. Have ye seen Jason? He's no at home and his mobile is switched off."

"_Uh ... he told me not to tell you. Said you'd get real worried and not to mention it."_

Sookie rolled her eyes. "Well it's a bit late for that, Hoyt, now I _am_ worried."

"_Oh ... yeah, I shoulda thought about that huh? He's down at the Police station; Andy wanted to ask him some questions about Dawn and Maudette again."_

"You're takin' the piss, right? He was hauled in straight after they girls were found, what do they need tae drag him in for noo?"

"_I don't know Sookie, but Jason sure was angry that he'd be losin' time off work again. Catfish is mighty put out about the time he's taken so far."_

"Aye, well, catfish isnae the only one scunnered. Thanks for tellin' me Hoyt, I'll give ye a free beer for yer trouble the next time ye come in."

Sookie hung up the phone and relayed the gist of the conversation to Adele. Both women, running high on emotion, got in Sookie's car and drove down to Bon Temps Police Station. Kevin Prior was on desk duty when he saw them come in; he felt the blood drain from his face when he saw how angry the two women were. Everyone in Bon Temps knew that an angry Adele Stackhouse was hard to shut up and an angry Sookie Stackhouse was hard to fight off.

"Uh ... hi Adele, Sookie. How are ya'll today?"

"Cut the crap Deputy, you've got something of ours and we came to get it back."

"Sookie!" Adele chastised. "I'm sorry Kevin, Sookie's just a little wound up. We understand Jason is here, we were wonderin' why."

"Oh ... uh ... I'm not allowed to say. You'll need to wait until Detective Bellefleur is all done with him."

"I see, has Sid Matt Lancaster been informed that Jason is here?"

Kevin looked from Adele to Sookie and back and shrugged. "I don't know if he's been informed but he's sure not here."

Sookie rolled her eyes and turned towards the seated waiting area, stomping over to the benches and throwing herself onto one of them. She knew, without a doubt, that Jason hadn't killed those women. His thoughts had told her so. But she also knew that circumstantial evidence against Jason was mounting. She wondered if there was any way to use her ability to clear his name, the only way she could think of was to read the minds of everyone in town and find who the real killer was. There would be no way for her to do that without exposing herself. Sookie found herself thinking 'what would Betty do?', but the only way to be sure of an answer to that was to call Betty Paterson herself.

When Jason had finally been released from Andy Bellefleur's questions, he faced another kind of interrogation – from his family. When Sookie and Adele learned that it was the family of Dawn Green that had led to him being questioned again, their anger saw new heights. The Greens had read about Sookie and Jason's involvement in a vampire's final death, and as their daughter had been known to frequent vampire bars, they maintained that Jason had a vendetta against vampires and those who love them.

"That's a load a shite!" Sookie fumed as they pulled up at the Stackhouse property. "More circumstantial evidence that disnae even apply!"

"Sookie, calm down. It's time for you to be at Merlotte's. I'll stay here with Jason and get him up to speed on what we were talking about earlier. You're already late to open the bar."

Sookie waited until her Gran and Jason were inside the house before setting off to work. It was already thirty minutes after opening, but Sookie knew the only person to be upset about that would be Jane Bodehouse. Terry Bellefleur had made sure the place was clean as a whistle the night before, so she didn't need to worry about major prep work needing done. It surprised her when the only people waiting to get in were Terry and Holly.

"No Jane today?" She smiled at the veteran and the waitress as she unlocked the door.

"Oh she was here, bang on ten. I guess she couldn't wait." Holly snorted.

Sookie nodded and looked at Terry. "Did ye forget yer keys?"

Terry nodded his head. "Sorry, Sookie. I'll make sure to attach them to the keys for my truck just in case."

"No need tae say sorry. If anybody should be apologisin' it should be me for keepin' ye waitin'."

The three workers entered Merlotte's and set about getting the bar ready for customers. Lafayette arrived at eleven to start getting the kitchen ready for the lunchtime crowd while Terry brought in the replacement kegs for the draught beers. Once everything was organised, Sookie went back to the office and calculated what time it would be in Glasgow before she made her call.

"_Paterson residence, who's calling please?"_

"Jim, its Sookie. How are ye?"

"_Sookie! We're ... well we're okay right now. Nothing we can't handle. How are you? Are ye still greivin' for yer man?"_

"I'm no so upset now, but I miss him. I've actually got a wee bit of a problem the noo, is Betty there?"

"_Aye she's here, I'll just get her."_ Sookie heard Jim call for Betty to come to the phone and Betty's footsteps on the tiles of the kitchen. _"Hello Sookie, whit can I do for ye?"_

"Betty, I need yer help. My brother's suspected of murderin' a couple a lassies but he didnae dae it. I want tae use my ability tae find out who did it. Clear his name, ye know?"

"_I see. An' when ye fin' oot who the killer is, whit dae ye dae then?"_

"Uh ... I'm no sure. I didnae think that far ahead."

"_Yer gonnae need a witch or somebody that kin get the killer tae confess. Dae ye know any magic fowk?"_

"Naw." Sookie sighed. "Naw, Ah don't."

"_Ah'll dae some phonin' roon fur ye. Get ye a contact, sit tight wee barra."_

"Okay Betty, thanks ... dae I owe ye anythin'?"

"_Naw, chookie barra, Ah've got enough favours banked tae make this wan a freebie fur ye."_

Sookie sighed in relief. "Thanks Betty, really, I'll hear fae ye soon."

"_You'll __**see**__ me soon Sookie. Ah'm no lettin' ye get in wae the magic crowd without bein' there tae make sure ye don't get shafted! Ah'm oan the next flight oot!"_

"Whit? I didnae mean ye had tae come all the way over here!"

"_Ye know me better than that Sookie and it's aboot time me an' yer Granny had a guid long chatter. Wid she be okay wae me stayin' wae ye's?"_

"I cannae see why she widnae be. Gimme a bell when ye get yer flights all sorted, I shoulda spoke tae her by then."

"_Will do. Speak tae ye soon then, you take care, chookie barra."_

"You too, Betty."

Although Sookie felt bad that Betty was coming all the way to Louisiana to help her, she was relieved and excited at the same time. If anyone could help her with the Jason situation, not to mention the vampire situation, then it would be Betty. Sookie hadn't done a great deal of training on actually _using_ her telepathy, mainly her time with the Paterson's was spent blocking, shielding and generally training on how to function in society without everyone's thoughts driving her out of her mind. Having Betty there to back her up through these problems put Sookie's mind at ease.

The day went quickly, as it always did. Lafayette kept everyone entertained with his tales of sexual debauchery. Sookie tried to spend equal amounts of time behind the bar and doing admin. As usual, she was there until after closing. Sookie had to put the night's takings in the safe and do a final walk round to make sure everything was ready for the next day. The front door was already locked and Sookie was setting the alarm before leaving through the rear. As she turned the key she looked at Sam's trailer. His family had left her the use of the trailer as well as leaving her in charge of the bar. The key to her dead boyfriend's home burned in the palm of her hand but she couldn't go in there. She could handle running the bar and she could handle Sam being dead but she couldn't handle sleeping in his bed or cooking on his stove.

A rattling noise brought her out of her thoughts and made her press her body against the side of the building. She knew someone was trying to open the front door and dropped her shields to find ... nothing. Sookie remembered the blank reading she had gotten from the tall, blond vampire who came in a few weeks ago. She knew that if she hadn't been so scared the night before, she may have attempted to see what was in the creepy vampire's head too.

Eric knew someone was there. He could smell her and hear her heartbeat thundering from the other side of the building. He looked at his already healing hands and cursed Andre silently; it would have been good if he'd been warned about the silver plated handles on the doors. He slowly walked to the side of the building, knowing that scaring his target would be a very bad thing to do. He wasn't used to the idea of befriending humans. To do that he might have to act or think like a human. The idea turned his stomach a little. He heard a car door open and took the opportunity to announce his presence.

"Hello? Miss Stackhouse? I don't know if you remember me, Eric Northman, I called by a few weeks ago."

He turned the corner of the building and was met by the barrel of a shotgun. "I remember you."

For the first time in hundreds of years, Eric was surprised. And Sookie saw it in his eyes.

"Not a particularly friendly greeting, Miss Stackhouse." Eric pushed the barrel of the gun so it was pointing over his shoulder. "I only came to ensure there had been no other ... incidents with vampires since your employer met his end."

Sookie snorted and moved the gun back to its original position. "Funny you should mention that. There was one here last night. Strange, that you show up the night after another vampire does ... again."

Eric stepped back and raised his hands. "A coincidence, nothing more."

For some reason, he felt odd lying to this girl. She was smart, that much was obvious, and she had guts. She intrigued the vampire. He wondered if her mind and her courage were what had interested the Queen – for sure as the sun rose in the morning, there had to be something different about her.

"Why are you really here?" Sookie stepped forward and pressed the gun to his neck. "I don't believe in coincidences."

Eric's eyes flicked to the gun then back to Sookie's face. "You know I could disarm you in less than a second don't you?"

"Aye." Sookie shrugged. "But I also know if you wanted to kill me, I'd be dead by now."

"You have ... a curious accent. Part Scottish, part southern but completely interesting." Eric grinned in an attempt to lighten the mood but Sookie had no desire to drop her guard.

"Thanks but you still haven't told me why you're here."

"Perhaps I was so smitten with you on my last visit; I simply could not stay away." The vampire smirked and looked into Sookie's eyes. "You will lower your gun and answer my questions."

Sookie felt her scalp prickle and the same pressure she felt from the other vampire the previous night. As before, she figured it would be better to play along than reveal that his influence was ineffective. Trying not to look angry, she slowly lowered the gun until the barrel was resting on the dirt next to her feet.

"Good girl. What did the other vampire want, the one who visited last night?"

Sookie remembered what she was supposed to recall from the visit. All she was supposed to remember was that they spoke about the vampire she killed. "He wanted to talk about Bill Compton."

"Was that all?"

"Aye."

"Are you sure? He didn't ask about you, at all?"

"No, just Bill Compton."

Eric's eyes narrowed, he knew something was wrong, Sookie's eyes just didn't look right. He increased the power of his glamour and saw her wince. "You aren't under my influence are you?"

Sookie couldn't stop her eyes from widening in response. She knew then that her ruse was unsuccessful and sighed. "How could you tell?"

"Your eyes, they didn't have the glazed, cloudy look of a glamoured human. Now," Eric grabbed the gun before Sookie knew what he was doing and tossed it across the parking lot "why don't you tell me what Andre _really_ wanted? If I can't glamour you then there's no way he could, and that means you remember exactly what you talked about."

"I remember. I just don't want to tell you." Sookie felt herself begin to shake, this vampire wanted answers she wasn't willing to give and the telepath knew that this could be the moment her life ended.

"Okay." Eric shrugged.

Sookie's eyes almost popped out of her head. "What?"

"If you don't want to tell me, that's okay." Eric suppressed his smile. Even a 1,000 year old vampire knew that falsely befriending a human involved lulling them into a false sense of trust.

"You aren't going to kill me?"

"Why would I?"

Sookie's eyes narrowed. "Because I can't be hypnotised and I refuse to tell you what you want to know. A vampire doesn't usually need excuses as big as that to rip someone apart."

"Maybe I want to get to know you better." Eric's gaze dropped to Sookie's chest, taking in the small amount of skin her open necked shirt was showing off.

"Maybe you like the smell of your own bullshit too much."

To Sookie's surprise, Eric bent double in fits of laughter. "Now," he panted between bursts of hilarity "now I really want to get to know you better!"

Unmoved by his mirth, Sookie stood with her hands on her hips. "Well, too bad for you. I really have to get home."

Eris sobered. "May I visit your bar sometime? I own a bar myself, I'm sure we would find we have other things in common if you spent some time with me."

"Not a good idea. In fact, spending time with a vampire is the last thing I want. I'd appreciate you leaving me alone Mr. Northman."

"That is a shame." His hand went to the inside pocket of his jacket and removed a business card. "Please, be sure to contact me if you change your mind. I find you fascinating."

Sookie plucked the offered card from his fingers and stuffed it in the back pocket of her jeans. "Yeah, sure. See ye."

Sookie retrieved her shotgun from the other side of the parking lot and put it back in her car before getting in the driver's seat and taking off for home, all under Eric's watchful eye. As he listened to the sound of her vehicle fade into the distance, he wondered how on earth he was supposed to befriend a woman who didn't want to be befriended. Not only was this a major hurdle in his instructions but he found himself feeling disappointed. To the vampire's immense surprise, he found he really did want to get to know her better. She was the most interesting human he'd met in a very long time.

~v~

Adele was waiting up for Sookie, as usual, but time was marching on and Sookie still wasn't home. The elderly woman tried to concentrate on her dog-eared Danielle Steele Novel but after reading the same sentence ten times and still not making sense of it, she put the book down and beat out a tune on the cover with her fingers. Finally she heard the back door open and rushed into the kitchen to greet her Granddaughter.

"Sookie! You're awfully late!"

"I know Gran." Sookie sighed. "More fuckin' vampires!"

Adele gasped. "I know you're scared Sookie but there's no need for that kind of language!"

The two women went into the living room and sat on the couch, Sookie frowned a little as she looked at her Gran. "I wasn't scared of this one. He didn't want to hurt me but I trust him as far as I can throw him."

"What did he want?"

Sookie's frown deepened as she wondered - what _did_ Eric Northman want? "I'm not sure. He wanted to know why that other vampire came to see me but ... it's hard to tell if he's working _with_ the other vampire or against him. Whichever it is, it's not good for me."

"Well, Betty will be here on Thursday. Maybe she can help with that too."

Sookie nodded absently. "Yeah, she had dealin's with vampires when she was younger. She told me about them durin' story time."

Adele cocked her head to the side. "Betty told you a lot didn't she? Story time wasn't really stories was it?"

"No." Sookie shook her head and got up from the couch. "The truth is a lot scarier than stories."

~v~

Adele stood in the arrivals lounge holding a sign saying 'B. Paterson'. The last photo she had seen of her telepathic friend was a holiday snap from when Sookie was 16 and she couldn't be sure that she would recognise Betty. She needn't have worried, as soon as Betty appeared, dragging a huge suitcase behind her, Adele knew exactly who she was. She didn't, however, know the young woman who followed her. Betty sped up to greet Adele, throwing her arms around her and crushing her in a hug.

"Adele! It's been too long!"

"It _has_ been a while." Adele pulled away and looked at Betty's companion. "And you've brought company!"

"Yes!" Betty put a protective arm around the woman. "This is Jackie Ward. She's ... a talented young lady."

"Well, I'm sure you'll tell me all about it on the drive back to Bon Temps." Adele chuckled, attempting to take Betty's suitcase from her.

Summer was in full swing in Louisiana and Adele's car's air conditioning wasn't much respite from the heat. Betty and Jackie weakly fanned themselves, both used to the colder climate. Even their summer clothes seemed too heavy for the southern temperature and humidity. The long drive north was filled with Betty explaining that Jackie was a young wolf, but not only that; she was very adept at spell casting. A born Shaman for the pack, Betty couldn't believe her luck when Jackie showed skill in witchcraft. She no longer had a ward in Sookie, so she took the girl under her wing. As she had previously acted as Shaman, it seemed like the right thing to do.

~v~

Sookie was going over the last little details with Arlene so the waitress would help Terry with closing for her. The telepath was excited to be seeing her mentor again and didn't want to be rolling in at 2am and missing welcoming Betty to Bon Temps.

"I really appreciate this Arlene. Will Rene be okay with Coby and Lisa?"

"He'll be fine, and believe me, when he sees the bonus in my pay check he'll be all too willing for me to make a regular thing of this."

Sookie leaned against the desk and pondered for a second. "Y'know, Sam always had me to fall back on when he had things to do. But I don't have that. Merlotte's is doin' better since I put in the jukebox and cleared space for dancin' – how would you like to be assistant manager?"

Arlene smiled wider than Sookie had ever seen anyone smile. "I wouldn't have to change my hours much would I?"

"Naw, naw ye wouldn't. How about ye open two days a week and close two days a week?" Sookie went to the safe and spun the dial, opening the door and reaching inside for a set of keys. "Here ye are. I'll give ye a ten percent raise now and after four weeks we'll review. If yer handlin' everything we'll up it to fifteen percent."

"Thank you Sookie!" The red head gushed. "You won't regret this!"

"I know ye can do the job, Arlene. But it's more stress and ye _do_ have two little ones at home. Let's just wait and see how the next four weeks go eh?"

The women leaned in to embrace but were interrupted by Lafayette rapping at the open door.

"'Scuse me, fine ladies, but there's a big blonde hunk o' deliciousness asking for ya Sooks."

Sookie frowned. The only big blonde hunk of anything who would be asking for her was Eric Northman. She sighed and looked at her watch, wondering if she would ever get home.

"Okay Laffy, send him back please."

Lafayette nodded and Arlene left the office with him, almost skipping back into the bar. Sookie sat behind her desk and went into the employee spreadsheet to make the changes to Arlene's pay. Eric appeared at the door and bumped his knuckles against it lightly.

"Knock, knock!"

Sookie raised an eyebrow and gestured to the chair opposite her. She was surprised at the vampire's very un-vampiric entrance, then realised that nothing she had seen of him so far was very vampiric at all.

"Mr. Northman." She nodded to him. "Is there a reason yer here despite me askin' ye to stay away from me?"

"Yes! I know you've told me about how Bill Compton and Sam Merlotte died but I have some questions about the circumstances."

Sookie leaned back in the chair and ground her teeth together. She thought it must have been fate or karma or maybe just plain bad luck that the one night she wanted to get away, things went to shit. Setting her steely gaze on Eric, she spoke quickly.

"Vamp enters bar, vamp leaves with drainers, Sam goes to help vamp, vamp kills Sam and then I killed the vamp. Clear enough?"

"As a bell." Murmured Eric. "Drainers? How did Sam know they were drainers?"

The telepath inhaled deeply, she didn't anticipate that question so she simply shrugged. "Who knows? He was a Shifter, so maybe he smelled somethin' off about them. He's smelled people who've come intae the bar with drugs before. The Drainers are a pair a' shites though – maybe he just knew they were up tae no good."

"And where would one find these Drainers?"

"A trailer doon at four corners. It's the only one there, hard to miss. Are we done?"

Eric cursed silently that his plan to goad Sookie into a conversation had, once again, gone awry. "Yes, but if I have more questions I will return."

"Do whit ye like pal. I've got places tae be, don't let the door hit ye on the arse on yer way out."

Eric willed his fangs to stay in place as Sookie unceremoniously dismissed him. At first he thought her demeanour to be a charming change from the norm but now he realised she was just plain rude. He got up and left without saying goodbye and headed straight to where Sookie said the Drainers would be. He sneered as he approached the trailer, his sensitive ears assaulted by country music being played at full volume. The vampire sniffed the air, the scent of a number of different drugs could be detected but the one that interested him most was the faint smell of vampire blood. Knowing that the trailer was their home and an invite would not be forthcoming, Eric picked up a large rock and hurled it through the biggest window.

He grinned as two half naked humans ran out of the hovel, a male with a hand gun and a female with a knife. Faster than their substance addled eyes could comprehend, Eric had disarmed both and had them pinned to the side of the trailer. His hands curled around their necks as he wondered which one to incapacitate first so he could question the other. In the vampire's experience, males always spilled their secrets the quickest. He knocked Denise Rattray's head against the side of the trailer and watched her husband's eyes fill with fear as she slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Now we can have a little chat, uninterrupted. A little birdie tells me that you drained a vampire around four weeks ago."

Mack Rattray's eyes widened. "No sir! That weren't us!"

Eric grinned as he forced his will onto the drug addict, within seconds Mack was under his control. "That isn't true is it?"

"No sir." Mack slurred.

"Tell me about that night, the night you drained Bill Compton in the parking lot at Merlotte's."

"He came into the bar and asked for synthetic. That's how we knew he was a vamp. We got all friendly, like, he said he had a deal for us."

Eric frowned. "What kind of deal?"

"His blood. He said we could take his blood. Seemed too good to be true for a guy like me but the whole time at that table he kept saying 'just think about how much money you'll make by draining me'."

"And what would Mr. Compton get out of the deal?"

"All we had to do was let him drink from us after he got rescued."

That confused Eric even more. The vampire wondered if Bill had a deal with Sam Merlotte and that it was arranged that the Shifter would rescue him. It seemed unlikely to Eric, if Sam and Bill knew each other then Sookie would have known more about it. Eric had a feeling that nothing escaped that woman. The question Eric now needed an answer to, was who did Bill have to rescue him and how did it go so wrong?

Sookie ran into her home and through to the living room. She sighed in relief when she saw Betty and another girl she vaguely recognised sitting on the couch with her Gran.

"Betty!" Sookie grabbed her mentor into a tight embrace. "I was worried I'd be too late and you would have gone to bed!"

"Naw Sookie! We stayed up for ye." Betty gestured to Jackie. "Do ye remember Jackie? She was just a bairn when ye left Glasgow."

"I think I do." Sookie stretched out her hand. "You've grown up a fair bit!"

Jackie smiled shyly. "I'm dead excited to be here! Betty said ye need some castin' done."

"That I do, Jackie. Why don't we sit and I'll tell ye's all about it."

Betty and Jackie sat rapt as Sookie explained what was happening with Jason and, also, the interest that the vampires were now showing. Jackie practically glowed as she brainstormed ideas with the blonde telepath, while Adele and Betty beamed with pride at the young women's problem solving skills. Betty sucked in a breath through her teeth when the discussion turned to Hadley.

"I dunno whit yer cousin was thinkin'. She'd be abjured by any pack for turnin' on her family like that."

"Abjured?" Adele sat forward. "What does that mean?"

Sookie felt guilty that she had been discussing so many supernatural things without a though of explaining things to her Gran. "When a pack abjures one its members, it's like they banish them. That Were is no longer allowed to speak to or hunt with anyone else in the pack."

"Hmph! Hadley done that to her own self long ago."

Betty cleared her throat and stood up. "Well, we've got a lot of organisin' to do for tomorrow night. Jackie, we should get to bed."

Sookie and Adele hugged their visitors' goodnight and then retired to their own rooms. While Adele found sleep easily, Sookie tossed and turned. Her thoughts plagued by the handsome Vampire who seemed to want her company so much. The telepath squeezed her eyes closed and tried, desperately, to think of Sam as her hand drifted between her legs. She masturbated bitterly, trying to release some of the tension in her body but as she came, it was to the fantasy of being ravaged by Eric Northman.


	2. Sookies pure ragin'

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to C. Harris.

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

Pam knew the moment Eric returned to Fangtasia, when she entered his office he was dropping a bloody t-shirt on the floor and pulling a clean one from the cabinet behind his desk.

"Tough night?" She smirked.

"More than you would imagine. It's been a long time since I had to dispose of bodies. The more I learn about Sookie Stackhouse and the circumstances behind Bill Compton's final death, the more confused I get. She's obstinate, rude and completely unwilling to spend time with me. I've never had this kind of problem with a human woman."

Pam gasped in surprise. "Has she seen you? Or ... maybe _I_ would be a better candidate for this task Andre has set?"

"I don't think so." Eric sat behind his desk and kicked off his boots before putting his feet up on the surface. "She seems to just ... hate vampires. Also, she can't be glamoured, so I have no way of getting the information I need from her."

Pam cleared her throat and leaned on the desk. "I know this is ... unorthodox, but have you considered finding a way to get your blood inside her?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea. She pretty much despises me and you know how volatile adding vampire blood into the mix can be at the best of times."

"So, you need her to like you and to trust you." Eric sighed and glared at his child, he knew these things already. "What do you really know about her? Andre basically sent you into this mission blind, we should research her. The more you know about her, the more you will know how to react around her."

"This is true. Just in case, I'll formulate a back-up plan where she takes my blood, just a little bit, a drop would do the trick. Enough that I can feel her reactions ... and who knows" Eric grinned. "Maybe the increase in her libido would lead to spectacular hate sex!"

~v~

Sookie huffed as she stapled another flyer to another fence post. It was expensive, but it was the best plan they had. The telepath smiled as she re-read the print on the piles of papers in her hand.

_Community Meeting_

_Tonight at Merlotte's Bar & Grill 8pm_

_Free drink for all who attend._

She put up the last one and noticed a police car coming towards her. She watched as the vehicle passed her by and skidded into the dirt path that led to the Rattray's trailer. Usually this wouldn't have fazed Sookie, but just the night before she had told a vampire that they were drainers and exactly where they lived.

"Bugger!"

She snarled and stalked over to the dusty clearing and leaned on the fence as she watched Bud Dearbourne rapping at the door. Sookie looked around the area; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She had half been expecting to find pieces of Denise and Mack scattered around but everything looked as scummy and trashy as it usually did.

"Hey Bud!" Sookie waved at the Sherriff and he sauntered over to her.

"Sookie." He frowned but tipped his hat to her. "Whatcha doing all the way out here?"

"Puttin' up flyers." She waved her stapler and pointed to the fluttering yellow paper on the fence posts. "Are ye here tae arrest the Rattray's for somethin'?"

"You know I can't tell you that Sookie. Have you seen Denise or Mack around while you were out here?"

Sookie shook her head. "The last time I seen them, they were bein' physically escorted from the bar. Everybody knows they drained that vamp, and if they hadn't done that then Sam wouldn't have been killed. Nobody wants to drink with scum like that."

"I know Sookie, I know. But there weren't any evidence and no witnesses. My hands were tied. I need to get goin' but if you see them – let me know."

"Will do, Sherriff."

Sookie walked slowly back to her car and waved to Bud when he passed by again. As soon as he was out of sight she ran back to the trailer and scoured the area. There was no blood and the dirt didn't look disturbed like there had been a fight. The only thing she noticed was that one of the windows in the trailer was cleaner than the rest, like it was new. To the casual observer, it looked like they had simply upped and left town. And maybe they had, but Sookie thought that was a little too much of a coincidence. She frowned, knowing that even if the Rat's had been taken or killed by a vampire it was a good thing, she just didn't like knowing it was her information that had caused it.

~v~

Jackie, Betty and Adele were holed up in Sookie's office. The two older women watched as Jackie made a salt circle and sat in the middle before lighting the candles either side of her. Betty checked her watch and nodded to the young wolf.

"It's time Jackie."

Adele wrung her hands as the girl chanted and sprinkled herbs into a bowl at her feet. She leaned close to Betty and whispered into her ear.

"What will this spell do again?"

Betty smiled and patted her friend's hand. "It'll just make people want to hang around. It won't stop someone from leaving if they really want to, but it'll push the thought of leaving to the back of their heads."

"I see." Adele worried at her bottom lip with her teeth. "So, when most folks are here, Sookie will start the meeting?"

Betty nodded. "Aye, I'll help her weed out the person that actually did the deeds. Then we can bring him back here and Jackie can cast a truth spell on him."

Adele nodded but couldn't shake the feeling that this plan wasn't foolproof. She thought about all the things that could go wrong. What if the killer didn't even show up? What if he or she made a run for it? What if the killer attacked one of them? She smiled at Betty and Betty frowned at her.

"Now that kind o' negative thinkin' never got anybody anywhere."

~v~

Eric sat in his car outside Merlotte's. He smelled magic. The Vampire wasn't a fan of magic but it had its uses in the right circumstances. He wondered if Sookie was having the bar warded against him entering. His fangs snapped into place at the thought of this mere human shutting him out but then another realisation dawned. How would a mere, simple, ordinary human know about wards and spells? He smiled and briefly considered that the witch doing the casting was Sookie, but he had been close enough to her that he would have smelled the magic.

He had been pleased when he rose for the evening and found a file pertaining to Sookie Stackhouse waiting for him in his office. It was simple information. Family, friends, address but what interested Eric most was her childhood. It certainly explained her accent and it gave him somewhere to start. Why had she been sent to Glasgow? It was almost serendipitous but at 1,000 years old you tend to have contacts all over the world. One call yielded very interesting results.

The Vampire stepped out of his vehicle and tentatively walked towards the bar. When he was able to open the door with his gloved hands, he quirked an eyebrow in question - if the spell casting wasn't to keep people away from the bar then what was it for? Eric walked in to find what had to be the entire town gathered in Merlotte's. He thought about leaving and perhaps returning later but dismissed the plan in favour of taking a seat near the back of the bar.

~v~

Jackie saw Sookie close her eyes and take a deep breath before muttering under her breath. The girl wondered if Sookie was feeling nervous about what they were going to do but the telepaths actions seemed to denote exasperation rather than anxiety. She watched as Sookie slammed a pitcher of beer on the counter and stare towards the back of the bar. Following Sookie's gaze, Jackie gasped as she saw him. The scent of her spell casting must have covered up the smell of vampire. And what a vampire he was!

"Sookie! Who's he?"

The telepath stopped grinding her teeth for a moment to answer Jackie's question. "He's Eric Northman - Vampire and general pain in my arse. Why tonight? He couldn't stay away for one fuckin' night!"

Sookie and Jackie looked towards Eric to find him waving and smiling, they both knew that he would have been able to hear their chit chat. Sookie stepped out from behind the bar, deciding that ignoring him would be better than creating a scene at this juncture in their plan. She looked around and noted that mostly everyone in Bon Temps had shown up. There were some of the church elders missing and Mayor Norris but even Maxine Fortenberry had extended her usual bedtime to find out what was happening.

She went to the table that her Gran and Betty were seated and climbed on top of it, feeling Betty wrap a hand around her ankle as she stood. Sookie looked down at the two women and they both nodded their encouragement. She could feel her ability strengthen, bolstered by Betty's contact. Finally, the crowd noticed her standing above them and quietened down.

"First off, I'd like tae thank ye's for coming here tonight and I'm sure you'll all realise how important this meetin' is tae our town once I get started." She paused and glanced at Eric, he was sitting forward in his seat listening intently. "As ye's know, there have been some ... unfortunate losses round here. First Maudette and then Dawn. As a town, we need to stand up and say 'we will not accept this'. We will not accept that young women are being killed and we will not stand idly by while other women are in danger!"

The crowd erupted in applause, many of them standing and making 'whoop whoop' sounds. Only a few remained still, the Sherriff, Detective Bellefleur and Eric. Andy Bellefleur narrowed his eyes; he knew the Stackhouse girl would be trouble. For all the lack of solid evidence against her brother, he was sure that Jason Stackhouse was the killer. The detective knew that Bud Dearbourne didn't necessarily share his certainty, but unless some new evidence came to light he was willing to let Andy continue his avenue of investigation. Sookie's strong voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"What is unfortunate is that the murders have been committed by someone local. Someone known to us and, perhaps, even someone sitting right here in this bar!" Sookie saw the crowd's minds as doors, she felt powerful and strong as she opened the doors one by one. "My brother, Jason, has been accused, questioned and hounded by the police but he is an innocent man. I will not rest until his name is cleared!"

Jason stood and clapped wildly before the rest of the crowd followed suit. Eric watched with interest as Sookie's eyes rested on one man in particular. He admired this human woman's words and actions; it was obvious that family was important to her. Sookie jumped down from the table and the Vampire strained to hear her whispering to the two older women next to her.

"It's Rene Lenier. Rene killed them both."

Adele nodded and gripped her hip, limping towards the man Sookie had indicated. Jason stopped her as she neared the table and supported her with both arms.

"Gran? Are you okay?"

"Uh ... I'll be fine Jason. This is your moment; you'll have a lot of questions to answer. Rene? Would you help an old lady to the office so I can have some quiet?"

Confused but eager to get out of the room, Rene stood and offered his arm to Adele. Eric leaned so far forward in his seat he almost fell off. His curiosity was most definitely piqued. When he saw Sookie and another woman follow Adele and her escort, he couldn't remain passive any longer. When he reached the office door, it was closed tight but that made no difference to his hearing. There was a struggle inside the room and the Vampire heard a smack flowed by a woman's cry of pain.

Snarling he burst into the room, sending splinters of wood flying as the lock gave way to his strength. Sookie was on the floor holding her face and another girl was growling and clawing at the man who had his arms around her neck. Eric could smell she was two natured and the glow in her eyes indicated that she was dangerously close to changing form. The two older women were clinging to each other behind the desk. Without waiting for an explanation, the Vampire grabbed Rene and held him high in the air. As He gazed into Rene's eyes he pressed on his will.

"Stay still and do not make a sound."

Immediately Rene stopped struggling and Eric placed him back on his feet. Sookie got back up just as Arlene, Lafayette and Jason appeared at the broken doorway.

"What the hell is goin' on in here Sook?"

"A misunderstanding, go back in there and make sure everyone has fresh drinks. Do _not_ let anyone back here for any reason!"

Despite their better judgement, the three followed Sookie's instructions and she closed the door as well as she could behind them. The telepath walked around Rene's static form before coming to a stop in front of Eric. He prepared himself for a diatribe of some description and set his features in cold indifference.

"Whatever your motives are for bein' here tonight, we'd be a hell of a lot worse off without you Eric. Thank you."

"You're welcome Sookie." Eric relaxed and smiled at her before looking at the others present. "And what interesting company you keep!"

Adele crossed her arms over her chest and walked over to stand next to her Granddaughter in front of the Vampire.

"Sookie's company is none of your business. Now, we're grateful that you stepped in and stopped one of us from bein' hurt but as Sookie mentioned – your motives are suspect."

Eric noticed Sookie and the other older woman staring intently at each other and cocked his head to one side as he watched the strange lack of interaction. "I have a guess as to what is going on in here. This man is the murderer you seek and this" he gestured to the witchcraft paraphernalia littering the floor "was your means to _persuade_ him to confess and close the case, thus freeing your brother from further accusations."

Sookie nodded slowly. "That's right. You're very observant."

Eric trained his eyes on Sookie as she moved around the room. The Vampire was observant, very observant. Observant enough to notice when Betty pushed a small piece of paper into Jackie's hand and Jackie turned her back on him to read it.

"Yes, I am. Wolf? What do you have there?" He saw the Were's shoulders tense but heard her start to chant. "What are you casting?"

Sookie stepped in front of Eric and he snarled. "Now, now, Vampire. None o' that. This is our big chance to clear up aaallll the wee things that have been botherin' us."

Eric felt the air around him change, his mind felt foggy as if he had attempted to remain awake after sunrise. He held a hand to his head and a growl emanated from his chest. "What. Have. You. Done?"

"An insurance policy. See, we were going to use the truth spell on Rene here but, to be honest, I'd rather know what your story is."

"And then how will you clear your brother's name?"

Sookie thought for a moment and then felt a tickle in her mind. She opened her thoughts to Betty and she smiled. "Well, Rene is here. And you're here. It wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination that he attacked me because he thought I was involved with you. Y'see that's what Maudette and Dawn have in common – they both liked to be bitten."

Eric quirked an eyebrow but refrained from asking Sookie if, she too, liked to be bitten. It would not have been flirtatious or funny going by their previous interactions. "I see you have everything worked out, very smart. Did you do that on your own or is the psychic over there somehow involved?"

There was a collective gasp at Eric's knowledge of Betty being more than she seemed and the Vampire grinned in triumph. But it was short lived.

"Tell us what you know about Betty."

Compelled by the spell Jackie had cast, Eric winced as the words tumbled from his mouth. "I found out you lived with Betty and Jim Paterson in Glasgow and phoned a nearby pack master there to gather information on them. He told me that she was the shaman for the Campsie runners, but wasn't a Were. Only a Were or a human with psychic abilities would be able to act as a shaman."

"Who did ye talk tae?" Betty was fuming, not only that this Vampire had been digging around but that someone that knew them had thought it was perfectly okay to tell Vampire's their business.

"Laurie Gallagher."

"That snivellin' toerag! Just wait til Jim and the rest o' his pack hear aboot this! How could Laurie be so bloody glaikit!"

"Calm down Betty." Adele gripped her friend by the shoulders. "We'll deal with this new information once we've got the problems in this room figured out."

"Gran's right. We'll deal with Rene and then we'll figure out what the hell to do with Eric here." Sookie looked the Vampire in the eye. "Can you glamour him into confessin' whit he did?"

"Yes but I will do it for a price."

Sookie snorted. "I don't think you're in any position to barter pal!"

Eric rushed forward and took Sookie by the throat, not enough to hurt her, but just enough to scare her into realising she wasn't the strongest one there. Sookie held out her hand to stop Jackie from pouncing.

"Alright, alright. I get your point. What kinda price were ye thinkin' about?"

"I want to know why you're so special. Why were you sent to live with a psychic?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

Eric grit his teeth and growled. "Because my ... superior has an interest in you and has asked me to befriend you. For some reason she wants you to trust vampires but I have no idea why. It irks me to be kept in the dark."

"I see." Sookie mused. She conferred with Betty mentally for a time before turning to her Gran. "They already know; that's why they sent him. If his boss knows then it's only a matter of time before the rest o' them do."

Sookie asked Jackie to lift the spell on Eric. "We spelled you to find out why ye were sniffin' around. Now we know. Liftin' the spell now is a goodwill gesture. If ye glamour Rene and send him to speak to Bud, I'll tell ye everythin'."

Eric felt the cloud lift from his mind and wondered if he should trust Sookie. There was nothing in her demeanour to suggest she would go back on her word but a Vampire could never be too sure ... unless ...

"On one condition." Eric tried not to smile as he formulated his plan.

"Oh aye?" Sookie folded her arms and the other three women in the room moved their heads back and forth as if they were at a tennis match.

"You take my blood. One sip, that's all, then I will know if you're truthful." He bit into his wrist and held it out to Sookie.

Sookie glanced at the bleeding wound. She knew that it wouldn't turn her into a vampire and that donating blood wasn't something Vampires did on a nightly basis with any old human. She glanced at Betty and they communicated silently once more. Once Sookie was aware that it would wear off in a matter of weeks she grabbed Eric's arm.

"I've got nothin' to hide."

She saw the gleam in Eric's eyes and placed her mouth over the wound. She sucked a mouthful of blood and locked her gaze to the Vampire's as she licked slowly at already closing holes. Eric was prepared for Sookie to give in to his demand, but he hadn't been prepared for the erotic manner in which she complied. Since Pam had suggested he get his blood inside her, he had dwelled on it. There was a chance that he would have to cope with feeling how much she despised his kind for a few weeks, but the insight into Sookie Stackhouse far outweighed any negative reactions. The way she licked at his wrist gave him renewed hope for angry hate sex. It would certainly be a change from the kinky fangbanger sex he was used to. He turned to Rene and stared into him.

"You will go to Bud Dearbourne and tell him about every person you have hurt, every person you have killed and every person you hate."

Rene nodded and Eric released him from his influence. The Cajun shook his head a little and looked around the room before muttering an 'excuse me' and leaving. Sookie could see Adele was tired and asked Betty and Jackie to take her home.

"Do you really want to be alone with him?" Jackie narrowed her eyes at the Vampire. "I could stay here, it's no bother."

"It's alright Jackie. I think Mr. Northman will be on his best behaviour." Sookie kissed the three women goodbye and settled into her chair. "Well Eric, where would you like me to start?"

Their eyes flew to the door as someone rapped on it. Sookie shouted for them to come in and Lafayette peeked inside, taking in the shards of wood sticking out of the doorframe where the lock used to be.

"Uh ... we've herded out the last o' customers baby cakes, you stayin' back?" His eyes flicked between Sookie and Eric, not sure if he would be able to help his boss even if she needed it.

"Yeah, I'll lock up Laffy. Ye did well tonight, thanks for everythin'."

"No problemo sugar pie. I'll see you tomorrow." The cook left the office door wide open but Sookie saw no reason to close it. After all, the two in the office were the only two left in the building. Sookie had made sure to double check that with her talents.

"Alone at last." Eric smirked. "Why don't you start with telling me why my superior is so interested in you?"

Sookie puffed out her cheeks and blew out a long breath. "I'm a telepath. Your boss knows this because my cousin, Hadley, has a mouth infinitely bigger than her brain and has absolutely no family loyalty."

"Interesting." Eric thought about mentioning that he had drained a psychic once in a sexual frenzy but decided against it. This also explained why Bill Compton had been so intent on the Rattray's thinking about draining him but Eric wanted more answers before he shared anything. "Why were you sent to live with the Patersons?"

"Betty is a telepath too, I was sent there so she could train me to function without giving myself away."

"Well that was a waste with Hadley being so willing to trade your secrets." Sookie snorted. "A telepath would be very useful, very useful indeed. I can see why ... my boss, as you put it, would be eager for you to trust vampires. She wouldn't be able to use you otherwise."

Sookie's eyes narrowed and Eric felt her rage build. "I will not be used. I am not for hire."

Eric shrugged. "My kind are not above threatening your family and friends to force you to work for them. This is fact."

"I know. That's why everyone close to me has been warned that if I'm a target – they are too." Sookie sighed, she knew that if the Vampires wanted her they would harm or kill her Gran or Jason. Perhaps even Betty, Jim or Jackie. "Level with me here pal. I'm already in the open, where Vampires are concerned. I know that I wouldn't simply be able to do a wee job for ye's and trot on home without repercussions. What kind of danger am I really in?"

Eric sucked an unnecessary breath through his teeth. "A lot, not just from Vampires but from other Supes too. You've heard how I was tasked with befriending you to secure your services; Vampires won't be the only species to take that route. In fact, that is why Bill Compton was here."

"He was sent to do the job you're doin' now?"

"Not really. I am not befriending you underhandedly, not now anyway, and I had no knowledge of why she wants you. After ... speaking with the Rattray's I was able to determine that Bill Compton fulfilled both these criteria."

"So basically, trust no-one, become friends with no-one because I'll never know if it's because they want to use me."

"Basically live and think like a Vampire, Sookie. The only being a Vampire can trust is the Vampire they made." Eric wondered if he was still under a spell of some description. Why was he giving this woman advice?

"What will ye tell yer boss? I assume they'll be keeping tabs on yer progress."

He nodded but wasn't quite sure how to answer. Eric could feel Sookie's anxiety and for a moment he actually felt sorry for her. Much like becoming a Vampire she had had her choices in life removed, except Sookie didn't have immense strength and other gifts to compensate for the loss. He imagined how she would fare while in other vampire's company. She would be put in her place almost certainly, her will broken, her fire extinguished, it made him angry for some reason. Sookie annoyed the hell out of him in the short time he'd known her but it was interesting, _she_ was interesting.

"I will tell them that we have been speaking and that I am making strides in gaining your trust. To be honest Sookie, your ... attitude will get you into trouble if you around a group of vampires. That trouble would almost certainly include you being physically hurt."

"Are you threatening me?" Sookie slammed her hands on the desk and stood up. "I don't respond well to threats."

"See? This is what I'm talking about. Humans are below Vampires in the food chain – literally, we don't respect humans and we don't like when they talk back."

Sookie sat back down and rubbed at her temples. She wondered why Eric was telling her all this. Why was he warning her? Why was he giving her advice? Was he still on his mission or was he actually trying to be a friend to her? And why the hell was she so horny? Suddenly she realised, it was the blood. The drug, V, was like LSD and Viagra rolled into one.

"What other effects will I have from taking your blood?"

Eric not only felt Sookie's arousal, he could smell it, and it was the most wonderful thing he had smelled in a long time. He also felt her rage, again, and wondered if she was ever happy. He'd heard the expression 'angry young woman' but had never had the unfortunate chance of meeting one.

"Your libido will increase, I can feel your emotions and I can tell if you're lying. That's all."

"Fuckin' marvellous." Sookie huffed. "Why are you helping me? Why are you tellin' me what'll get me into trouble?"

"I ... I don't know. What I do know is that you're different and would very much like to find out how different you are."

"Still on yer mission?" Sookie sneered and stalked out of the office into the bar.

"No." Eric followed and watched Sookie fill a glass with bourbon. "I genuinely want to get to know you. And I hope that after tonight, you would like to get to know me better too."

Sookie slammed back her drink and grimaced as it burned all the way down. She thought about everything Eric had told her, including that she shouldn't trust anyone. But here he was, expecting her to trust him because they had been chin wagging all night.

"I don't trust you." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood in front of Eric with her head held high.

"Good. You shouldn't." He lifted his hand and swiped a thumb over her cheekbone, enjoying the slight shiver that went through her as he did. "That doesn't mean we can't be allies. I can teach you about my world and perhaps, if I ever have need of a mind reader, you would repay me by using your talents."

"You scratch my back, I scratch yours. I get it." Sookie stepped back away from Eric's touch. Her body was telling her to do things that she really wasn't sure if she wanted to do. She knew that she had to get out of there before something happened that she couldn't take back.

"Sookie, you can scratch any part of me you want." Eric winked at her and she closed her eyes, trying to ignore his proximity. His voice was low and husky as he stepped closer to Sookie and pressed his body against hers. "I know what you need; I can ... ease your troubles. Right now, on this bar."

It took all of her strength, mental, emotional and physical, but she pushed him away. And Eric let her. He nodded and left Sookie behind the bar, where she instantly slumped to the floor, sobbing her heart out in frustration and anger.

~v~

Adele had been pacing for hours, or so it seemed. Betty had lost count of the amount of times she had asked her friend to sit down and reassured her that Sookie was probably fine and that she could take care of herself. When the phone rang, Adele almost pulled a muscle jumping to answer.

"Sookie?"

"_Hi Gran. I just wanted to let you know, I've had a few ... eh well, mair than a few. The whole bottle actually, so I'm gonnae stay at the bar tonight. I'm fine, totally in one piece."_

"Oh thank the Lord Sookie! You sleep it off honey; you've had a tough time recently. I'll see you tomorrow."

"_Sure Gran. See ye soon."_

Adele sighed as she put the handset back on the cradle. "She's okay, just drunk. We'll go to the bar tomorrow mornin' and make sure she's up and about for the day."

Jackie frowned. "I don't like the thought o' her bein' alone after everythin' that happened the night. Can ye give me a ride to the bar? I'll cast wards and keep guard til mornin'."

"That's a good idea Jackie, ye can never be too careful. Adele? Would ye be okay drivin' Jackie back tae Merlotte's?"

Adele bit her lip, she hated driving in the dark but she hated the thought of Sookie alone in that bar all night. She would be vulnerable and completely alone, there wasn't another soul for miles. "I'll do it."

~v~

Jackie had just completed the wards on the bar. No-one with harmful intent would be able to enter. She sniggered to herself that this was something most of the bars in Glasgow could probably do with. Her internal musings were interrupted by a low growl behind her. Once again, the smell of the magic had drowned out all the other smells. Including the smell of Werewolf. And he was close. She knew she wouldn't have time to shift and made a run for the rear entrance, hoping that it was unlocked.

The paws thundered towards her as she grabbed the handle and turned. The door flew open as he pounced and locked his jaws around Jackie's ankle. The young woman screamed and kicked out with her other foot to no avail. The stronger Were was dragging her out and away from the wards, away from protection. Jackie grabbed at the door frame and opened her mouth to scream for Sookie's help but was shocked into silence by a gun being fired.

The wolf yelped and let go of Jackie's leg and the woman scrabbled to get behind the threshold of the door. Once she was safe she looked up to find Sookie swaying in hallway with a hand gun. The attacker had returned to his human form and was lying in the dirt trying to stop the flow of blood from his hip.

"Good shot Sookie, noo we can question him!" Jackie looked at Sookie. The telepath was standing with one eye screwed closed, her blonde hair was standing up at a variety of angles, her shirt was in disarray and she was barefoot.

"Well ... I was aimin' fur his heid but gift horse an' all that."


	3. Adeles got a braw plan

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to C. Harris.

_This chapter is brought to you by the letter 'J' for JaxG *smoochies*_

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

"Has Sherriff Northman contacted you yet?"

"No, your Grace. I expect he is taking the time to research his target." Andre bowed his head to his Queen, his maker, his ... everything.

"Perhaps if Mr. Compton had done the same he would still be with us." Queen Sophie-Ann LeClerq had made the mistake of letting her child, Hadley, brief Bill rather than Andre. Hadley had given Bill the 'cliff's notes' on Sookie, which had led to his ill-conceived plan going awry. "At least his final death has given us a back-up plan. If Eric can't convince her to work for us of her own free will, we can insist on her services in return for removing one of us from the fold."

Andre nodded. "She would understand that. She grew up with it after all."

Sophie-Ann turned even more serious as she leaned forward in her chair. "We should tell Eric that Bill's maker has been informed of his final death. Lorena is a psychopath on a good day, who knows what she'll do."

"I told her it was a fair kill when I contacted her and that there would be no restitution as he met his death at the hands of a human. Do you really think she would go after Miss Stackhouse?"

"Restitution and revenge are two completely different things. Call Sherriff Northman, now."

~v~

Jackie woke up with a nasty crick in her neck, but she knew that would happen when she curled up in one of the booths in Merlotte's. She knew that coming here with Betty would be an amazing experience but she had no idea that she would be flexing her magical muscles so much. Any witchcraft she practiced back in Glasgow was closely supervised by an elder of the Coven, and the fact the Betty trusted her enough to just let her do her own thing made her want to do the best job she could.

Massaging her neck, she headed over to another booth where Sookie was almost falling off the seat. Jackie shook her head slightly. She had been on the verge of 13 years old when Sookie had left. The young telepath had seemed so sophisticated in Jackie's eyes back then but right at that moment, sophisticated was the last word Jackie would use to describe her. The witch leaned over to shake Sookie awake. Nothing. She picked up Sookie's arm and dropped it. Nothing. She patted at Sookie's face. Nothing. Jackie pondered that it _had_ been a very long, hard night for them but there was still work to be done. And Jackie couldn't do it alone.

Sookie leapt out of the booth as soon as the bucket of cold water hit her flesh.

"Whit the fuck?" She shook her whole body like a dog before twisting her long blonde hair and wringing out as much water as she could. "Jackie, I'm bloody drookit!"

"Aye, that was kinda the point o' throwin' a bucket o' watter over ye. Yer awake though eh?"

Sookie chuckled. "Aye, I'm awake alright!"

The telepath attempted to run a hand through her hair and grimaced when her fingers tangled in the knots. She couldn't quite remember everything about the night before, but she knew without a doubt that something horrible had happened. Sookie looked at Jackie and noted her dirty clothes and haphazardly bandaged ankle. Groaning and rubbing her face, all of the previous night's events came flooding back.

"The wolf is in Sam's trailer right?"

"Aye, gaffer taped and trapped in the stasis spell I cast. As long as the door stays shut on the trailer he'll be fine."

Sookie nodded and checked the time. There were a couple of hours before the bar had to open and both women needed some serious cleaning up.

~v~

Adele and Betty sat at the kitchen table, it was the first time they had really had the chance to speak to each other alone and their breakfast had been a very intense question and answer session.

"Sookie doesn't drink very often, it affects her shields. I can't help but worry over what went on with her and that vampire after we left." Adele tapped the side of her mug with her fingers and bit at her lip.

"Well." Betty put her cup down and sat back in her chair. "She had his blood, so there's a big chance they had sex."

Adele choked on the sip of coffee she had planned to swallow and Betty stood up to pat her back as a coughing fit erupted. Once she had calmed down, Adele stared at her friend.

"I know a lot of things are less taboo in your world, but I'd rather not know who my Granddaughter was having sex with. And what difference would his blood make?"

"It's an aphrodisiac, a very strong one. I'm sure Sookie knows all about it."

"And if she doesn't?"

"She's smart, she'll work it out."

They were interrupted, thankfully in Adele's opinion, by the sound of a car rattling up the driveway. A glance out of the kitchen window informed them that is was Sookie's beat-up Nova and Adele immediately started making more breakfast for the returning women. Betty was retrieving more mugs from the cupboard when Sookie and Jackie entered. Adele turned to say 'good morning' but dropped the entire packet of bacon in the skillet when she saw the condition they were in. Sookie held up her hand in a 'not now' gesture.

"Showers and then food. We'll tell ye everything."

Thirty minutes later, the four women were gathered at the battered table. Sookie and Jackie retold the events of the night before while they ate. Betty interceded with the occasional question but Adele remained silent and still. When they were finished, Sookie folded her arms on the table and rested her head on top.

"I came back here to get away from all this shite. Now I'm in deeper than I ever would've been in Glasgow."

Adele leaned over and rubbed Sookie's back. "It'll be okay sweetie."

Sookie sat up and looked at her Gran incredulously. Betty and Jackie wore similar expressions of disbelief. "Gran, I hate to tell ye this but it's _not_ gonnae be okay. The Vampires want me, they live forever, they won't stop until they get whit they want. Vampire's are like the fuckin' Terminator!"

Betty nodded sadly. "Sookie's right. They willnae stop until she's under their control or deid."

Adele blanched and her eyes welled. "So ... there's really no way out for you?"

Sookie put her arm around her Grandmother and rubbed her shoulder. "As long as Supernatural folks know about what I can do, I'll always be in danger from them."

The old woman tried to remain calm but the thought of her Granddaughter forever running from creatures that would harm her made her more afraid than she'd ever been. All those years ago, she'd learned so many things, if she had known that this is what it would have led to she would never have let Fintan get so involved. But she had. Now all she could do was sit there in her withered body and watch Sookie's life be controlled by others. Or was it?

~v~

Sookie and Jackie made it to Merlotte's five minutes before opening, there were more customers milling around outside than usual. The Were-Witch had jumped at the chance to accompany Sookie to the bar rather than stay at home with the old ladies, besides what better way to see the fall-out from the previous night than to be at the epicentre? The bar manager smirked; she knew exactly why the townsfolk of Bon Temps were congregating this early at the restaurant. Gossip got these people together quicker than a fire drill. Sure enough, Rene was a topic of conversation. Sookie dropped off a round of coffees at Maxine Fortenberry's table and tried to remain solemn as they spoke.

"Can you believe it? Those two girls and his sister too! Killed all of 'em then went straight to Bud last night and confessed everything, who'd a thunk it?" Maxine shook her head and crossed her arms under her generous bust.

The telepath was surprised she was holding up so well. She had been under the impression that her ability to block would have been slim to none after the amount she had drank last night. Instead it felt like they were stronger, _she_ was stronger. She should have felt like dirt but she felt great, not that Sookie was complaining about it. It was when she was in her office that the realisation hit her. Vampire blood - that's why she felt good after getting blind drunk. Sookie sighed and carried on with the liquor order, no point in putting things off when you have the energy to get everything done.

Jackie found she was a popular figure in the bar. Everyone seemed to want to talk to her about where she was from and what Sookie was like when she was growing up. Especially Jason. Jackie was no stranger to attention from the opposite sex but she refrained from flirting back. He was handsome but he didn't really make Jackie laugh. With the serious business of being in a pack and being trained as shaman, Jackie needed laughter in her life.

~v~

As soon as the two young women were on their way to Merlotte's, Adele turned to Betty and smiled.

"I think I have an answer to Sookie's problems. I'll be back as soon as I can, it's a lovely day – you could sit outside with some lemonade and enjoy the sunshine!"

Betty knew Adele wasn't sending her outside to hide what she was doing, but to make sure Betty wasn't bored while she was doing it. "That sounds lovely!"

Adele slowly climbed the ladder into the attic, taking care in every step. Once she was sure of her footing and the light was on, she made her way towards the old bureau, screwdriver in hand. Adele had kept her secret for long enough, she knew that keeping Sookie in the dark would only make things worse. The old woman was relieved that she still had enough life in her to pass all of this information on. She didn't even want to imagine the state Sookie would be in if she found this trinket after her death.

It took her almost an hour, but eventually Adele was sitting at her kitchen table staring at the brown envelope. She didn't need to read the letter inside; she remembered every word she had been told about this. She shook the bag lightly, the fabric crumbling away with age. A small box fell into her palm, like a tiny make-up compact or maybe a locket of some sort. She called Betty inside and the old telepath tentatively entered the kitchen. She stared at the object in Adele's hand with wonder.

"Is that a ..."

"A Cluviel Dor, yes it is."Adele nodded.

The colours swirled and they took a few moments to absorb the beauty of the object. Fintan's friend told her it was called a 'Cluviel Dor', it was a love token and it would grant her one wish. He'd also told her to be very careful what she wished for. Adele was holding Sookie's freedom in the palm of her hand; this would be a careful wish and an important one.

"I need your help in wording this right. I only have one shot with this thing and I really don't want to mess it up."

~v~

Once Sookie had arranged for Arlene, Terry and Lafayette to close the bar, the telepath and the Were-Witch left for Sam's trailer. They steeled themselves before they opened the door, for they knew that as soon as that happened, the Wolf inside would do his damndest to escape. Jackie watched as Sookie cocked her gun and took a deep breath. The noises from the bar next door seemed to fade into the distance and all they could hear was the clicking of the lock disengaging as the key turned.

The telepath held the gun out in front of her as she stepped over the threshold, pointing it to the Wolf when she spotted him on the floor. He started growling deep in his chest and struggled against his bonds. Sookie looked at Jackie with pride when she noted that he was wrapped almost head to toe in gaffer tape. She stifled a giggle at the thought that he looked like a caterpillar, a big silver caterpillar that was having some kind of seizure.

Jackie closed the door behind her and walked over to pull the Wolf into a better position. The tape prevented him from bending enough to sit anywhere, so she propped him up against the couch. The Wolf watched as the two young women crouched either side of him. Whoever sent him to do this job had seriously underestimated who they were dealing with. He glared at Sookie as she pressed the muzzle of the gun into his forehead with one hand and placed the other on his cheek.

"Why are you here?" She asked calmly.

He rolled his eyes and flicked them down to where his mouth was taped up. He thought this chick was obviously one fry short of a happy meal if she wanted to get answers out of him when he couldn't speak. He wondered if the Vamp lady who hired him knew that this was a suicide mission.

"What Vamp Lady? What's her name?"

He attempted to grin, he didn't know her name. How did she know he was working for a vamp? All he got was a phone number, instructions to take the waitress that killed Bill Compton to Mississippi and a very nice wad of cash in an envelope that was left in a locker at the bus station.

"Interesting. What was this vampire's connection to Bill Compton?"

The Wolf frowned. He had no idea how she knew that either. He scoffed internally at the thought that she was reading his mind but when he saw her smile the colour drained from his face.

"Puttin' two and two together are we?" Sookie turned to Jackie. "Take the gun, I'll get the car. I think we're gonnae need a wee drive to the swamp."

~v~

Sookie had never carried out an execution herself, unless you counted Bill Compton, but that was very heat of the moment. Not premeditated at all. Both Sookie and Jackie had seen them though. It was the supernatural way. If you cross a certain line in the supernatural world, your life is forfeit. And conspiring to kidnap someone would definitely cross that line. The two young women dragged the Wolf as best they could with his struggling. Eventually, when the watery mud was waist deep, they let him go and Sookie put a single bullet through his head at close range.

They watched as he sank into the swamp before trudging back to Sookie's car. Once inside, Sookie sighed at the mess of her Nova. She would need to spend a lot of time cleaning it.

"This is just the start Jackie. It's them or me and I like being alive."

Jackie nodded. "Aye, yer up tae yer arse in it now. Jim would be proud o' the way ye handled that. Ye _are_ handlin' it, right?"

Sookie looked at the Were-Witch sadly. "For now, when the adrenaline wears off it'll be a different kettle o' fish."

~v~

"In the name o' the wee man! Whit the hell have ye's been doin' now?"

Betty was staring at Sookie and Jackie as they walked in the door. Adele came into the kitchen and shrieked.

"Oh my Lord!"

"We're okay. The Were who attacked Jackie last night ... not so much."

The older women nodded and watched Sookie and Jackie retreat once more to the bathrooms. Adele was getting extremely concerned that Sookie couldn't seem to go to work without major incidents happening. She calmed herself with the thought that soon, that might not be a problem anymore.

When Sookie had finished her shower, she walked back through the living room rubbing her empty stomach. She stopped as she noticed a pad and pen sitting on the coffee table and wondered if her Gran had been writing a letter. Her curiosity got the better of her, and after all, it was just lying there begging to be read. The telepath frowned as she noticed two columns; one for 'action' and another for 'variable'. Sookie stopped reading and took the pad with her into the kitchen and placing it gently on the table.

"There's another variable in the mix."

Adele sighed. "I was hoping we could at least get some food in your bellies before speaking about that but I guess we can talk while we eat."

Sookie and Jackie were ravenous but lost their appetites soon after Adele revealed that Sookie's biological Grandfather was a half-fairy named Fintan. They pushed their plates away as she explained how Fintan had a friend that visited when they were younger and that he'd given her bloodline a gift. Betty interceded at the point to speculate that the gift bestowed upon them, specifically Sookie, was telepathy.

"I'm from Demon stock, one sixteenth to be exact. It's not widely known, but telepathy is a Demon trait that is passed through the blood. It's possible that this friend was a Demon and saw something in you and somehow gave you a drop of his blood."

The younger telepath sat with her mouth wide open as the tale continued until finally they got to the trinket that Adele pulled out of her pocket and the list on the table. Sookie looked at the Cluviel Dor, she loved it instantly. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"So ye make a wish and it comes true?"

Adele nodded. "But you have to make sure you wish for the right thing."

"Wish magic is the most powerful of all. Nothing can undo it." Betty picked up the pad. "We had some ideas but there's a fair bit of planning involved."

Sookie turned the Cluviel Dor over in her hands. "And repercussions. You can change the world but how vast will the changes be? We need to account for every possibility."

At midnight, the writing pad was almost filled with notes and all four women were suffering from headaches. Sookie tapped the pen on the last blank space.

"First we need to prepare. We need wards to prevent Betty and Jackie from being affected and we need money for a plane ticket."

"I'll get the money Sookie, don't you worry about that."

Sookie sighed and rubbed at her temples. "Then there's the actual wishing. That's gonnae need to happen in the day time. Early morning would be best, maybe an hour after sunrise so the vamps simply wake up in the evening with no knowledge of what's gone on."

"Good plan." Betty nodded. "There's a lot to be done but we'll get there."

Adele smiled at Sookie as the young woman wrapped her arms around her. "Are ye sure ye want to do this Gran?"

"I've never been surer of anything Sweetie. I'm ready for the change."

~v~

Sookie was happy to see that everything in the bar was exactly as it should be. It was nice to know that she could depend on the other staff to do as good a job as she did when she was absent. She just hoped nothing happened in the next few days that would require it to be a permanent arrangement.

While Sookie did what she was paid for, Adele went through other avenues to find the money for their project. She slowly climbed the stairs of his front porch, unsure of how he would react to seeing her. The old woman rapped loudly on the door and took a step back. She heard the sound of a few different locks being turned, and after holding her breath for long enough, the door opened.

"Hello Bartlett."

"A ... Adele? Why are you here? You said you never wanted to see me again."

"Can you blame me? And you had the gall to turn up at Linda's funeral. You owe me for keeping my tongue in my head and not letting everyone know what you did so you could be hounded out of town!"

"That's not your style Adele." Bartlett laughed. "You know how much shame it would bring to the Stackhouse name if folks found out about my little ... perversion."

"That was the old Adele. I've learned a lot in the past while. I think you'll be surprised by how much I've changed."

"Oh really? Well, you might as well come inside since you made the effort to come here. You could have called instead."

"But if I called, I couldn't do this."

Adele pulled a knife out of her purse and held it to the old man's throat. She had done a lot of thinking since Betty came into town and everything changed with Sookie. She thought about how ruthless the world was and how placid bystanders get trampled and killed while the ones who hurt them walk away. Bartlett had hurt Adele, but he had hurt her Daughter and her Granddaughters much, much worse. Bartlett owed Adele and Bartlett had some money, it was time for him to pay up. The world was made of checks and balances, not love and understanding. Protecting the ones you love was worth more than forgiving the ones who hurt them.

"What the hell Addie?"

"You still keep your savings under the bed?"

"What?"

She pressed the knife harder against his skin. "You heard. You made Linda and Hadley's lives a living hell. Now Sookie needs help and your money is going to help her. Think of it as a small amount of redemption."

"Okay, okay! Yeah, my money, everything, it's in the black box under the bed."

"Thank you Bartlett."

Adele put the knife back in her purse and walked into her brother's bedroom. She dragged a black box, similar to a small briefcase, out from under the bed. Bartlett just watched from his wheelchair as his Sister walked out of his house with everything he had saved in his pitiful life. When the door closed behind her, a single tear escaped Bartlett's eyes.

"Damn Addie, you _have_ changed."

~v~

When Adele, Betty and Jackie had finished counting, it turned out Bartlett Hale had squirreled away just under $6,000. Plenty for the purpose Adele had in mind. She called Sid Matt Lancaster to make arrangements to see him that afternoon and made her way to the bank to close her accounts, not that there was much in them. After seeing her lawyer to transfer ownership of the farmhouse to Sookie, she drove to Shreveport to book her airline ticket. It had been a long day but her last task was to fish out the card of a man who had come round to try and buy some her land a while back. Sookie might just need that number in the future.

Betty placed a hand over hers. "It has to be like this hen, ye cannae stay here and risk bein' glamoured into confessin'."

"I know and I'm ready. I just hope Sookie is."

Adele signed her name at the bottom of the letter she was leaving for Jason and pressed it to her lips. She had to believe she was doing the right thing.

~v~

Sookie huffed out a breath and rolled her head on her shoulders. She had memorised the number from the Wolf the night before and her heart rate sped up as she dialled. This was how it was done; you made deals and told lies. Her breath hitched slightly when the ringing stopped and a smooth female voiced asked who was calling. Sookie put on an exaggerated American accent and put her plan in motion.

"My name isn't important. What I found is."

"_And what did you find, pray tell?"_

"I found a Were-Wolf killing a waitress. He also had this phone number and a wad of cash on him."

"_Killing her? Dammit! That wasn't the deal."_

"Whatever the deal was, it's off. I covered it up. Whatever business you had in Bon Temps is over or those bodies get found with this number written all over them."

"_I see. Was there anything special about this waitress he killed?"_

"Nothing really, she staked a vampire a while back. But she's dead now, so she won't be doing that anymore."

"_You have a deal. But if those bodies turn up, I will lay waste to Bon Temps myself looking for you."_

"I wouldn't expect anything else."

Sookie put the handset back in the cradle and held her head in her hands. This would be her life from now on. Forever plotting, watching her back and making deals to protect herself. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand as she tenderly remembered the few years between returning from Glasgow and that vampire walking into the bar. The short time she had as a normal girl. She would never see those times again.

~v~

It had been a hard day for everyone but none of them were able to sleep that night. With two hours to sunrise, Jackie was preparing the house for the wards while the other three women desperately tried to overcome the last hurdle in their plan – Eric Northman.

"I've had his blood, there's no way round it. We'll just need to cross that bridge when we come to it." Sookie sighed.

"He seems alright for a vamp. He questions things, doesn't follow blindly. He must be an auld yin." Betty adjusted the clothes at the top of her suitcase before closing it and making sure the tags were attached properly. Suddenly she stood up straight and stared at Sookie. "Ye _are_ sure yer cousin is vampire now right?"

Sookie blinked. She and her Gran had assumed Hadley was a vampire, but they never had it confirmed. She ran to her room and fished out Eric's business card, checking her watch as she made her way to the phone. She just hoped he had an answer right away; otherwise this might all be for nothing. There were two numbers on the card. One for Fangtasia the bar Eric owned and the other was for his business cell phone. Knowing that the bar would be closed, Sookie chose to call the cell number.

"_Northman, speak."_

"Eric, its Sookie. I need a favour."

"_Really? So soon? My, my, you're certainly racking up your debt aren't you?"_

"If I couldn't pay it back, I wouldn't ask. I need to know if Hadley Delahoussaye is a vampire."

"_Who is she to you?"_

"My Cousin. She's the source of your boss' information."

"_Interesting."_

"It's not interesting, it's important. I need to know if she's definitely a vampire."

She heard Eric chuckle lightly. _"Yes, she's ... my superior's newest child. Still new born, she's not even six months old."_

Sookie sighed in relief. "Thank you Eric. That's all I need."

"_You better be as useful as we expect. Unless you can think of any other talents you possess that would interest me."_

"Goodbye Eric."

Sookie ended the call abruptly. A small part of her hoped that he would call back, that same part wished that he wouldn't have to be affected by the wish her Gran was going to make. But Sookie knew it had to be all or nothing. She was armed with enough information to explain many things, but she wouldn't be able to explain how Eric's blood managed to get inside a woman he couldn't remember.

Exhaustion was taking its toll on all of them, but finally the sun came up. Sookie brewed the fourth pot of coffee and helped her Gran move her suitcase on to the porch. Adele handed Sookie the letter for Jason, making her promise to give it to him after 10am, no earlier. Jackie had black circles under her eyes and could barely lift herself from the sofa. The wards she had cast were incredibly draining but she couldn't go to sleep until she had confirmation that they actually worked.

The four women sat on the porch watching the sun creep higher in the sky. It was time. They went back into the kitchen and Adele brought out the Cluviel Dor from her pocket.

"I wish all supernatural creatures would forget they ever met or heard of Sookie Stackhouse."


	4. Betty an' Adele Shoot the Craw

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that Vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to C. Harris.

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

Sookie watched as her Gran and Betty left for the airport. They had held each other and cried until the cab driver had gotten very impatient. When the cab was out of sight, Sookie went back inside to find Jackie waiting for her in the hallway.

"So, we know it didnae affect us but how do we know the wish worked on everybody else?"

Jackie picked up the Cluviel Dor. It no longer shimmered in the light; the surface was a dull jade green. The magic that it exuded had gone, now it was just an interesting trinket. The Were-Witch handed it to Sookie and the Telepath held it to her chest.

"I guess we need to wait until sunset." Sookie shrugged and headed to her room for a nap before going to see Jason and give him Gran's letter. She hoped there would be time for another nap later before she had to go into Merlotte's for her late shift.

~v~

Jason read the letter. Then he read it again. It didn't sink in at all. He read it a third time.

_Dear Jason_

_I've asked Sookie to wait until 10am to give you this. By the time you read this letter, I'll be on one of many airplanes making my way towards Glasgow. With all the Vampire stuff that's been going on, I wanted to get away from everything until things calm down. So I'll be staying with Betty and Jim Paterson, Sookie has their details of you ever want to get in touch with me._

_I won't be away forever; I can only stay in Scotland for 6 months before my visitor visa runs out. But I hope I won't have to stay away that long. Please don't blame Sookie, it's not her fault she was born different and it's not her fault Hadley told the wrong people what she could do._

_Take care of each other and stay safe._

_Adele Stackhouse (Grandmother)_

"So ... Gran has upped and left you here to deal with all this vamp shit on your own?" Jason tossed the letter on the coffee table, struggling to understand why Gran would leave Sookie after everything she told him the other day.

"No. There was nothing Gran could do, so she went somewhere she would be safe." Sookie didn't like lying to her brother, but it was far better that he never found out exactly what had happened with the fairy artefact that Gran had been given.

"Why didn't _you_ go? You're the one in danger; shouldn't you have been the one runnin' off overseas?"

"It disnae work like that Jason, if I ran off they would simply hurt Gran or you til ye told them where I was. You know this, we went over it before. This is the safest for Gran."

"And what about me, am I still in danger?"

Sookie paused. She knew Jason was still in a modicum of danger, but that would only be if she gave Eric cause to take that kind of action. "That depends on me. And ye know I'll do whatever I can to protect ye."

Sookie patted Jason's knee and stood to leave but Jason grabbed her hand. He didn't say anything; he just looked into his sister's eyes. Sookie saw a little sadness and a lot of worry in those eyes. She couldn't determine if he was worried for her or for himself but she realised that he depended on her for his safety. The sudden pressure she felt made her knees weak. But she stood firm, she would have to, for both their sakes.

~v~

Sookie smiled as Calvin Norris and some of the other guys from Norcross ventured into Merlotte's for their weekly round after work. She started a pitcher of their favoured beer running and got glasses ready, sitting them on the bar just as Calvin came over to her.

"Hey Calvin, how are ye today?"

Calvin was extremely confused. This woman knew exactly what he was going to ask for and his name. He had no idea who she was. "Uh ... do I know you?"

Mike Spencer was sitting at the bar and dropped one of his onion rings back into the bowl. "You feelin' okay Calvin? Sookie here has been servin' you beer for nigh on five years!"

"Really?" Calvin exclaimed in his soft voice. "Huh! Strange ... I can't remember you at all."

Sookie placed a strained smile on her face. "Oh, I'm not that memorable anyway!"

The Telepath focussed on Calvin's mind, she knew he was two-natured. Of what variety, she had no idea. His mind went from purple and green swirls to a tangle of reds and oranges. Jackie quirked an eyebrow from her perch at the end of the bar as the evidence of the Adele's wish working became apparent. Calvin picked up the glasses and the pitcher and went back to his table, not sparing another glance at the woman he had no memories of.

As sunset approached, Sookie became more nervous. She dropped a third glass and after sweeping up the shards, decided it would be best to go to her office and try to make sense of the invoices instead. Jackie followed her back and watched the Telepath pace back and forth in front of the desk.

"You know the wards are still there don't ye?"

"Wards? What wards?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. Of course, Sookie had been passed out drunk while she was doing them. "The other night, I cast wards on the bar. No-one who means harm can get in."

"Oh!" Sookie relaxed. "So I'm safe here for the time being. That's good. Very good."

~v~

Eric came alive to the strangest sensation. He could feel the bond with his child but there was something else there, _someone_ else there. The Vampire leaped out of his bed with a snarl and dressed without showering. When something demanded his immediate attention, it was literal. And the fact that a human was out there with his blood in them, without his knowledge of giving them that blood, needed to be attended to. Very immediately. He called Pam to let her know he wouldn't be at Fangtasia at his usual time but told her not to worry.

Once outside he took to the sky, following his blood to the perpetrator of this crime. And they would pay dearly for taking an essential part of him. The closer he got to the source, the stronger their emotions came through. Whoever it was, they were feeling extremely anxious and slightly frightened. That confused Eric, it should be the other way around surely? This person who imbibed his blood should be quaking with fear and running for his or her life. As he hovered over what looked like a backwoods bar, he wondered what was amiss. Someone had somehow taken his blood during his day death but rather than getting as far away as possible, they had decided to hole up less than a twenty minute flight from his chamber.

A sense of familiarity washed over him when he looked at the neon sign over the door. The name Merlotte was known to him and he briefly wondered if the shifter was harbouring his thief. But then he remembered that Sam Merlotte was dead, killed by Bill Compton ... after that his memories were jumbled. He knew that Bill Compton was also, finally, dead and that the deed had been done by one of Sam's employees. A growl started deep in Eric's chest as he realised that his memories weren't quite right. He had impeccable recall, over 1,000 years of memories, yet the last month seemed to be like a puzzle with missing pieces.

Eric reached for the handle of the door to the bar but stopped short of gripping it. He leaned in and inspected it closley. Silver. That increased his anger and he threw all caution to the side, pulling the door open despite the metal burning his skin. His fangs were fully extended as he lifted a foot to enter the bar ... only to find he couldn't. He _physically_ couldn't cross the threshold. A black man wearing eye shadow was behind the bar. Lafayette, Eric wondered when they had met, because they certainly had, but again his memories were hazy.

Lafayette saw the crazed Vampire at the door and immediately went to find Sookie. Arlene took his place behind the bar and did nothing to hide her fear as she saw Eric's rage. The smell of scared humans permeated the air and incited Eric's bloodlust as he tried in vain to enter the property. When Lafayette appeared followed by a blonde woman and a Were-Wolf that Eric was, again, familiar with, the Vampire snarled and gnashed his teeth at them. His eyes bored into the blonde, knowing she was the one who had stolen his blood.

"I will kill you for what you have done." Eric grinned. "Slowly and painfully."

Sookie wasn't unaffected by his words. She was terrified and going by the flare of Eric's nostrils, he knew full well how scared she was. "Go round to the back door. We can speak there."

"Oh I don't think there will be much call for talking." Eric leaned as far into the doorframe as he was allowed, gripping the wooden surround so tightly that his fingers left dents.

"Well, I think you'd be interested in what I have to say."

The Telepath tried to keep the tremor out of her voice but sagged in relief when Eric stood straight and disappeared from view. She felt Jackie squeeze her hand and turned to her friend, nodding that she would be okay. The walk through the bar and down the corridor to the rear entrance was the longest walk she'd ever taken. She saw Eric standing at the doorway, feral, enraged and very dangerous. She kicked herself mentally when she felt her hormones rise at the sight of him but it was too late. Eric had felt her surge of lust and was now chuckling nastily at her.

"So interesting you find me arousing, maybe I'll fuck you to death rather than ripping you to pieces? Come outside, now."

Eric looked into her eyes and extended the tendrils of his influence, only to find this woman batted them away when she smiled at him. He was surprised that he couldn't glamour her but something about it felt like déjà vu.

"I'll pick door number 3, Bob." Sookie stopped around a foot away from the doorway. "Yer here because I've had yer blood."

Eric grinned darkly. "So refreshing that you admit it without torture, how did you happen across my blood and what on earth made you think it was a good idea to drink it?"

"You offered it to me."

The Vampire snarled and attempted to break through the invisible barrier. He knew she was being truthful and couldn't understand why such an event would be missing from his recollections.

"Why did I offer and why can I not remember this momentous occasion?"

Sookie sighed. "Ye wanted to know if I was tellin' the truth, an' I had nothing to hide, so I took some o' your blood. The reason ye cannae remember is ... complicated."

"So un-complicate it!" Eric hissed and bared his fangs.

Sookie rubbed at her temples and leaned against the wall. Eric glared at her, not believing what he was seeing, Sookie quirked an eyebrow at him. "Ye might as well have a seat, this might take a while."

Eric stepped back from the doorway and put his hands in his pockets. "I'll stand if it's all the same; you can't stay in there forever. And even if you tried to, whatever magic you have protecting you will wear off sooner or later."

"Whatever." Sookie shrugged. "Yer memories are skew-iff because of me. I had a gift left to me and I used it."

The Telepath had no intention of letting anyone think that her Gran had made the wish. She would bear the brunt of the Cluviel Dor's magic in every way.

"What kind of gift allows you to tamper with memories?" Eric found his curiosity piqued by this information.

"A Fairy gift that was left by my Grandfather. I was allowed one wish."

Eric's rage gave way to interest. The Fae were reclusive and very magical ... and the woman in front of him had been left a gift of wish magic. That made her special indeed. His desire to kill her for having his blood running through his veins abated and he gestured for the woman to continue her story. Seeing that the Vampire's posture had drifted to a more relaxed stance, Sookie decided to take a chance.

"I'd rather no talk about everything here. Will ye kill me if I come outside?"

Eric grinned. "Even if I say 'no' I could still mean 'yes'."

Sookie snorted. "Still showerin' me with hints an' tips, I see. Okay, I know you won't kill me until I've told you what you want to know."

She pointed to Sam's trailer and tentatively stepped over the threshold, pulling the keys from the pocket of her shorts. Eric watched the saucy flare of her hips as she walked towards the trailer, noting her raised eyebrow when she turned to look at him.

"Are ye comin'?"

"Not yet." He smirked as Sookie huffed in exasperation.

~v~

Jackie peered down the corridor, anxious that she couldn't hear voices over the sound of the jukebox. She figured no sound was not a good thing, so the Were-Witch wandered back to see if Sookie needed help. When she saw that no-one was at the doorway, she panicked and followed the scents to Sam's trailer.

The young wolf stopped far enough away to take note that both Sookie and Eric were inside. Jackie was torn; she knew that Sookie wouldn't invite him into the trailer if she thought she was in danger. But she also knew that Vampires could strike before an invitation could be rescinded. Steeling herself, she strode over and rapped at the door.

"Sookie, its Jackie. Is everythin' alright in there?"

Inside the trailer, Eric glared at the door. They had just sat down and Sookie was about to tell him everything when Jackie interrupted. Sookie smiled and shook her head, walking past Eric to open the door.

"We're fine Jackie. If that changes ... well, I'll be dead before ye can shift. So go back to the bar an' keep an eye on things for me. Let everybody know I'm fine."

Jackie eyed Eric warily and was gifted with a wink from Eric in return. Slowly she backed away from the trailer then turned to go back into the bar. When she returned, Lafayette was first to enquire as to Sookie's welfare. When the Were-Witch told him that his boss was fine, he wasn't convinced. When Jackie asked for some work to do to keep herself busy, he was even less sure that Sookie was safe.

~v~

Sookie sat down across from Eric and rubbed her sweaty palms on her thighs. It was too quiet and the Telepath needed something to fill the silence, so she turned on the radio that sat on top of the kitchen counter. The trailer was filled with the strains of Kelis singing about how her milkshake brought all the boys to the yard. Sookie tried to find another station quickly only to land on Kevin Lyttle asking her to turn him on. She slapped the radio to turn it off and went back to sit down. Eric had been highly amused by the whole scene but hid his smile well.

"Since you invited me inside, you obviously know my name. You have me at a disadvantage."

"My name is Sookie Stackhouse; we haven't known each other long." She bit her lip, wondering how to say everything she knew she needed to say. "I'm not sure where to start."

"Start with the blood, that's what brought me here, after all."

"Right, the blood." Sookie took out her pony tail before pulling it back even tighter than it was before. "So I had these vamps after me and you wanted to know why. You asked me to take some blood so I couldn't lie to you about it."

"Why would you have my kind chasing you?" Eric tilted his head to the side, appraising Sookie candidly. She wasn't astoundingly beautiful, she smelled sweeter than other humans though. "What makes you so special?"

"Well, I'm part-Fae." It was the truth; it just wasn't the _right_ truth. But Sookie knew she couldn't lie to Eric, so there had to be a compromise.

"They wanted you for your blood?"

Sookie shrugged. "I don't know about that, but I know I didn't like being targeted like that."

"I see. And I don't remember giving my blood to a Fae hybrid because of a wish?"

"Um ... pretty much. I had a ... gift, as I said before, and I wished that every supernatural creature would forget they ever heard of or met me."

"Interesting."

Eric leaned back in the chair and absorbed the snippets Sookie had bestowed upon him. He was surprised that she had been so open but there was something she wasn't telling him. Would Vampires go so far to get a taste of the Fae that they would push one woman into such drastic action? Eric doubted that, there were a few full-blooded Fae around; they were just hard to catch. She didn't seem skittish enough that she would use the gift of wish magic at the first sign of trouble. The Vampire knew that Sookie Stackhouse was hiding something. She couldn't be glamoured, so he was down one option on getting answers. She had already had his blood, so that was another avenue blocked off. The last tools he had were torture and coercion.

"So ... if yer gonnae kill me, could ye do it quick? Seein' as I've been truthful and everythin'." Sookie closed her eyes and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, she opened her eyes to find Eric smirking at her. "It would help if ye at least said somethin'."

"If I kill you then I'll never find out what you're hiding." He leaned forward and gripped her chin lightly in his fingers, forcing her to look into his eyes. "And I _will_ find out, Sookie Stackhouse, even if I have to kill your whole family."

Sookie winced and tried to pull away. Eric smiled in triumph, there it was, her weak spot. He was willing to put his fangs on that being the real reason for the wish. The way her heart sped up and the fear seeped from her pores told him everything. Sookie felt tears well up in her eyes. She had promised Jason she would protect him but she didn't want the cycle to start all over again.

"If I tell ye, then the magic I used will have been for nothin'. Nothing!"

She spat the last word out, making Eric pull back his hand and hiss at her. Then the tears that had threatened spilled over, rolling down her cheeks as her face reddened with anger. The Vampire had not expected this reaction. Whatever she had kept from him it was important. This wasn't an ordinary human; he knew that as soon as she mentioned her Grandfather giving her a fairy gift. He contemplated why she would need to hide so much that she would take the risk of altering the memories of so many.

"How about we make a deal?" Eric forced his fangs to retract and picked up Sookie's hand.

Sookie felt his cold fingers draw lines in the palm of her hand and pulled away. "I don't make deals with the devil."

"Your choice." Eric shrugged. "I'm sure you will give your loved ones an appropriate send off."

"That's not a deal." Sookie snorted. "That's a threat."

"Indeed it is. But my deal would have been that whatever reason you made that wish, I would keep in confidence unless it endangered my kind."

Sookie narrowed her eyes. "Ye wouldn't tell anyone? What assurances do I have? Ye could blab to all an' sundry an' I'd be in the back o' a van before I could tell ye how much o' a bastard ye are!"

Eric nodded. "That is true; all you have is my word. But knowing there is a risk that you would be taken from my area, that gives me some incentive to keep your secrets, does it not?"

The Telepath mulled that over for a time. There was no way to tie him to his word, and a Vampire's word was worth as much as a used condom. The only thing she could think to do was to make him _want_ to keep it to himself. "My secret is very important an' it's very useful. Ye told me that yerself, that a lot o' Supes would want to harness my power for themselves."

"Really?" Eric smiled, at first he thought she had been exaggerating, but a brief probe of the tie they had confirmed that she wasn't. He had _really_ said that. "And this power ... it would be worth my silence?"

Sookie shrugged. "You said that Vampires and Werewolves would want to use me, does that make any difference?"

"That depends on the power." Eric quirked an eyebrow and leaned in closer. So close that he could feel Sookie's breath on his neck. "Tell me what you can do Sookie."

Sookie stared at Eric and thought about her choices. Despite everything they had done, she always knew that Eric Northman would be a huge hurdle. She could either keep quiet and wait to hear of Jason's, and perhaps even her Gran's, death, or she could tell him about her Telepathy and cross her fingers. Those were her options. His blue eyes danced with amusement as he watched his prey try to wriggle out of her quandary. One of his favourite things was seeing that moment, the moment when it dawned on someone that they actually never really had a choice to begin with.

"I can read minds, not all of them. I can't read Vampires and Weres are harder." Her voice was the smallest whisper but Eric heard every word.

"That is ... _very_ interesting. I had a psychic once, it was incredible." Eric fangs ran out at the memory.

"Did the psychic think so?"

Sookie jumped back in her chair as Eric's loud laughter rang through the trailer. He stopped and looked at Sookie with mischief in his eyes. "For a while."

"Until you drained her. That's what you mean by that isn't it?" The colour left her face as she realised her fate if she didn't do whatever he asked of her now.

"Yes. I'm sure you're smarter than she was though." Eric once again cocked his head to one side and gazed at Sookie. "You were right about your power being special. With a Telepath at my disposal, things would be a lot easier. And I would be very ... upset, if another Vampire, or a Were, took one of my assets away from me."

"So you'll keep quiet then? I don't want everybody wantin' to use me. Once every now an' again is fine but ... I have a mentor, she was used a lot an' never really got paid for it. They just promised her favours all the time."

"I will pay you; I don't like being in debt or owing favours. Tell me about your accent."

Sookie was startled by the dramatic change in subject and frowned slightly. "I was sent to Glasgow when I was seven, that's where my mentor is. I came back here seven years ago. Is my ... family safe?"

"For the time being, yes, although I have the feeling that you wouldn't do anything that would put them at risk." The Telepath nodded firmly. "Well, shall we shake on it?"

Eric held out his hand and Sookie just stared at it. After a few moments, the Vampire picked up her hand with his and shook three times before pulling her towards him and burying his face in her neck. She felt his fangs scrape against her skin and cursed silently as the Vampire blood made her libido hop up and down. Eric moaned as the scent of her arousal mixed with the sweetness of the blood in her veins. Sookie shuddered as Eric licked from her shoulder to her ear and bit her lip so she wouldn't make a sound. As suddenly as he had grabbed her, he let her go and stood up.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Stackhouse. You'll be hearing from me soon."

Sookie sat slack jawed and worked up as Eric left the trailer. She shook her head clear from the experience and considered that things had gone better than she expected. Now all she could do was hope that Eric didn't boast about having a Telepath on the payroll.

~v~

Jackie had been bussing tables while she waited for either Sookie to come back inside or to hear her screams of pain as she had her life ripped away. She was carrying a tray of glasses back to the bar when she heard the back door close. Practically throwing the tray on the bar, the Were-Witch ran down the corridor straight into Sookie. They both fell on to the floor yelping as they hit the hard surface.

"Jackie, what were ye in such a rush for?"

"Sorry, Sookie, I just wisnae sure what kind o' state ye'd be in."

"More o' a state than I'd like." Sookie muttered. "It's ... fine in the grand scheme o' things. I couldn't hide everythin' from him, I had to tell him."

Jackie gasped. "Aw naw! Now it's just gonnae start a' ere again!"

"We'll talk about it later, Jackie, for now let's just gets this place organised and get home."

The Were-Witch continued to help with the clean-up of the bar until closing. When only Jackie, Sookie and Lafayette remained, they spoke quietly in the parking lot. Lafayette expressed his concerns over the appearance of the, previously friendly, Vampire.

"Laf, things are ... difficult right now, for me. I'm gonnae need more help. I've got Arlene as assistant manager and it'll be great but I can't guarantee that I won't need time for ... personal things."

"And you want me to pick up yo' slack? Hookah, I can't even begin ta tell yo how ta live yo life, but I like this place and I like you."

Sookie sighed and rubbed at her face. "Merlotte's doesn't bring in a lot o' dough, it's been better since I put the juke box in and cleared some space for dancin' but there's still no much to spare when it comes to increasin' wages."

Lafayette grinned. "We's got talent shootin' outta our asses bitch! Merlotte's has got good food, good people and good times; we just gotta spread the word is all."

Sookie pondered that for a short time before bidding the gay man farewell and setting off home with Jackie. Despite a run through with a vacuum cleaner and a whole bottle of Febreeze, Sookie's car was still in a state of un-cleanliness that the Telepath wasn't comfortable with. As they parked at the back of the house, Sookie gazed at her Gran's Buick, it was an old lady car but it was newer than her Nova ... and smelled better. The Telepath shook her head; she had enough to think about right at the moment. The two young women went inside and sat drinking coffee at the kitchen table until Jackie knew everything that Sookie knew. Jackie shook her head when the Telepath was finished and took her empty cup to the sink.

"I hope Jason realises just how loyal ye are."

"He knows, he might not understand it or appreciate it, but he knows."

"I was wonderin' if we'd have a chance to do any sightseein' before I had to go back home. I'm kinda used to going out pubbin' an' clubbin' when I'm no workin'."

Sookie sighed. "I'd love to, but with the bar I don't get much time off an' yer too young to get into a club over here."

Jackie chuckled. "Are ye forgettin' what I can do? Makin' somebody see somethin' that isnae there is easy as fallin' off a log. No matter what my ID says, a bouncer can be made to think it confirms I'm auld enough to shake mah bum on a dance floor!"

Sookie thought about that for a moment. Blowing off some steam on a dance floor sounded like the ideal counter to her other appetites. She was tense after her conversation, and subsequent arousal, with Eric. The two agreed to plan their evening further the next morning and retired to their rooms. Once again Sookie was left with her own imagination and as she remembered the moan Eric had breathed out as he tasted her flesh, she reached her peak. She went to the bathroom and washed her hands, trying to not to dwell on how unsatisfactory the experience was. After having the company of a skilled man like Sam, she found it harder to be alone the longer he was dead. The realisation was like a knife through her heart and she slept fitfully, plagued by guilt and loneliness.

~v~

Eric flew to Fangtasia after his encounter with Sookie. He had kept track of her emotions all evening, her anxiety and weariness while taking care of the backlog of Sherriff duties he had to take care of. Her anxiety continued as he sprawled in his booth, putting on a show for the tourists and fangbangers in the bar. The Vampire was strangely relieved when her mood shifted from worrying to feeling some hope. He sipped at his Trueblood while the more desperate, willing women paraded for him, hoping he would put down his synthetic blood and partake in what they had to offer. As Eric felt Sookie shift to a more sexual mood, he beckoned a lively brunette and led her back to his office.

He pulled the woman on top of him on the couch and palmed her breasts, they were large and fake but he tried to ignore that as he plucked at her hard nipples through the flimsy fabric of her dress. Eric imagined Sookie's hands as the woman rubbed his erection through his jeans and he grit his teeth as he felt Sookie get closer and closer to her orgasm.

"Oh baby, do me! Please, I want you to bite me and fuck me. Pleeeeease."

Eric stopped and looked incredulously at the fangbanger with her fake boobs and high pitched begging. He wondered who Sookie was having fun with and growled as her completion radiated through the blood. The fangbanger was still pawing at him and pulling at his belt, he watched as she sank to her knees in front of him and sucked as much of his length into her mouth as she could. But he was no longer in the mood. Sookie's dissatisfaction and depression had leaked into Eric and his desire waned.

"What's wrong baby?"

The Vampire quirked an eyebrow at her as she worked his softening shaft with her hand. "I'm not anyone's 'baby', least of all yours. Maybe if you hadn't opened your mouth I would have come by now. Take your fake tits and squeaky voice and get out. You're not really doing it for me, if you know what I mean."

Eric smiled cruelly as tears welled up in the woman's eyes. When she didn't leave his office right away, his fangs ran down and he growled at her. When he jerked forward on the couch she scrambled to her feet and hurried to the door. Seconds after the fangbanger left, Pam entered the room. She scented the air and shot a confused look at Eric.

"Was Helen not to your liking?"

"She had fake tits, a squeaky voice and she begged, _begged_!"

Pam shrugged. "Since when has that been a major turn-off for you?"

"Is the club ready for locking up? We are the only ones here?" Pam nodded. "Have you noticed anything strange, like hazy or jumbled memories?"

His child cocked her head to the side and regarded her maker curiously. "Now that you mention it, I had trouble working out why you had so much of a backlog with your duties. I put it down to a bad donor. I think I might have drank from someone who had taken some kind of drug."

"No Pam, it doesn't have anything to do with a 'bad donor'. It seems we recently got involved with a part-Fae Telepath who was left a gift of wish magic. Your memories have been altered, as have mine. It's imperative that this information remains between the two of us and no-one else."

For the first time since Eric had known her, Pam was speechless.


	5. Telepath oan the randan

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that Vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to C. Harris.

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

Adele watched Jim haul her suitcase up the stairs of the modest semi-detached home that he owned with Betty. She could hardly believe that she was there, in another country. Not just another country but on another continent! The drive from the airport to the Paterson's house in the Merrylee area had been ... an experience for the native of Louisiana. She hardly understood a word of the conversation her friend and husband had shared and was astounded at how extensive the suburbs of Glasgow really were. The drove for over thirty minutes through built up areas without going anywhere near the city centre.

"So, here we are!" Betty clapped her hands and shocked Adele out of her musings. "Do ye want a cuppa tea?"

"Oh my, that sounds wonderful!"

Adele followed Betty through to the kitchen and sat at the table while her Telepathic friend flicked the kettle on and took two mugs out of the cupboard. The American gazed out of the window at the grey clouds and drizzle, and missed the heat and sunshine of her home state. Adele smiled at Betty as she came towards her with a steaming mug but soon became pre-maturely homesick when she was handed the cloudy drink. This wasn't how they made tea in Louisiana.

"Oh ... um ... thank you."

"I didnae know what ye took so I made galactic standard, milk an' two sugars."

The American kept her polite smile screwed on but internally she balked at drinking her tea made in such a way.

"Believe me, with the weather we get here – you'll need the warm drinks."

Adele looked back outside again and remembered how the damp had seeped into her very bones during the short walk from the terminal to the car park. She sipped at the hot tea and smacked her lips together. She came here for an adventure and if that meant taking her tea hot with cow juice then by golly, she'd do it!

~v~

Merlotte's was buzzing with the gossip of Sookie's vampire visitor the previous night. Sookie had to stifle her amusement as they whispered behind her back, none of them knowing that she could read what they were talking about from their narrow minds. The only customer who had the mettle to ask her outright was Andy Bellefleur.

"I heard you had to deal with an angry vampire last night Sook. Did you stake him too?"

Sookie smiled at the detective condescendingly. "No, we talked out our problems. He won't be harassing anybody again."

Andy chuckled and muttered under his breath. "Talked? Yeah right."

The Telepath narrowed her eyes at him and sneaked into his mind to find him imagining all sorts of sexual situations between her and Eric. She removed herself from the thoughts of the detective and went back to her office. Jackie was inside, surfing the internet for places they could go after their shift was over that night. Sookie had opened the bar today, so they would be free to go wherever they pleased once 8pm rolled around.

"There's a strip club in Monroe." Jackie wiggled her eyebrows. "C'mon, it'll be good! Hot guys takin' their kit off and shakin' their tackle, what could be more fun?"

"Gettin' screwed by said hot guys?" Sookie grinned wickedly. "Think about it, what's the point o' goin' there and gettin' all worked up when we dinnae have warm welcome when we get home?"

"Good point." Jackie huffed and continued her search for a short time before speaking again. "Um ... I've been thinkin' about what happened last night, ye know that he'll want to taste ye don't ye?"

"Who?" Sookie opened a filing cabinet drawer and began putting the completed orders into it before turning to the Were-Wolf.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Duh! Eric? The vampire you admitted to being part-Fae to?"

Sookie's mouth formed an 'o' shape as the realisation hit her. "Maybe he won't be that bothered. I'm sure it won't be a big deal."

"Ye know that fairy blood to vampires is like teasing a Doberman wie a big steak, right?"

The Telepath shrugged. "So we're tasty and juicy."

"Naw, it's more than that. It's like ... they're attracted to it, it gies them a high like a kind o' drug. Drinkin' from a full-blooded Fae can send the vamp intae a frenzy. The fairy disnae survive ... ever."

Sookie pinched at the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "Well, thanks for that Jackie. Now I can shit myself wie full knowledge o' how I'll die!" She slammed the drawer closed and leaned against the cabinet. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I was thinkin' about asking Jason and Hoyt if they wanted to come out with us tonight."

"Cool. I like Hoyt, he's a nice guy. Very sweet." Sookie raised an eyebrow at the expression on Jackie's face as she spoke about her brother's best friend.

"He is, and yer only here for another week. If ye get into anythin' tell him up front, I don't want ye to hurt him."

~v~

Sookie scrutinised her wardrobe, she had very few offerings for going to a nightclub and she wasn't sure she would even fit into them anymore. Her curves had become more pronounced in the last few years. She picked out her only two dresses. One was stretchy and black with pink rhinestone straps and a cowl neckline that showed off the hot pink lining as it draped over her generous cleavage. The other was a baby pink Chinese style dress with pale green piping and pattern over it. After trying on the polyester pink affair and not being able to fasten it across her hips or chest, Sookie sighed.

"Aye well, back in black."

Jackie knocked lightly on Sookie's door before entering and frowned at the exasperated huffing and puffing that she heard as she walked in. The Were-Witch cleared her throat and Sookie looked up at her, dropping the pile of underwear in her hands onto the bed.

"What are ye up to?"

"I've got one dress that fits, just, but it's that tight every single pair o' knickers shows up. I dinnae have a strapless bra to wear with it, so I'm already going without up top, I'll be damned if I'm goin' commando intae the bargain!"

Jackie bit her lip to prevent her giggles escaping. "Sookie, I hate to say but I think yer gonnae have to."

The Telepath groaned and wiggled out of another pair of panties, cursing her Gran's good cooking under her breath. When she slipped her feet into a pair of worn sling back kitten heels, she took in her friend's outfit. Jackie was wearing a deep purple strapless tube dress with plain block heeled pumps. Their outfits complemented each other, they were both dressed up without looking over dressed and after they styled their hair and put on their make-up, they waited in the kitchen for Hoyt and Jason to pick them up.

They didn't wait long; soon the sound of Jason's truck was evident as it rattled along the potholed drive. The women grabbed their purses and made their way outside, Sookie waving at her brother and his best friend from the open doorway. As the Telepath closed the door and inserted her key in the lock to secure her home, the sound of another car was heard. Sookie locked the door and counted to ten, she knew her visitor was a vampire and there was only one vampire who had the means to find out where she was at all times. When the Telepath turned around she spotted a red Corvette and stood at the bottom of the porch steps with her arms folded, waiting for Eric to make his presence known.

"Oh dear, have I arrived at a bad time?" The Vampire grinned at Sookie and she narrowed her eyes in return.

"Aye, we're just leavin' so whatever reason yer here will need to wait."

"I don't think so." Eric stood directly in front of Sookie and bent down to whisper in her ear. "That blonde man looks a lot like you, your brother perhaps?"

Sookie grit her teeth and glared at him. "You're a tosser, has anybody ever told ye that?"

The Vampire chuckled at her. "No, but I value your opinion. We'll be spending some time going over the details of the work you'll be doing for me tonight."

Jason and Hoyt had both gotten out of the truck and, along with Jackie, were shuffling closer and closer to Sookie and Eric. "Sook? You need help?"

Sookie stepped around Eric and shook her head. "Guys ... somethin's come up. I won't be able to go out dancin' after all."

Jackie's eyes filled with sadness as she saw Sookie's defeated expression. "No! That's not fair; ye were really lookin' forward to the night."

Eric looked at the four humans and sneered at their despondency. Then he remembered how Sookie's foul mood ruined his previous night. "You will still have your evening out; you can all come to Fangtasia. I will only need to borrow Sookie for a short while."

The Telepath looked at her friends before glaring at Eric. "No. Leave me yer number and I'll call ye tomorrow night."

"No." Eric took a step closer to Sookie, making her crane her neck so she would keep eye contact. "This requires immediate attention."

"Are ye gonnae kidnap me?" Sookie's mouth twitched into a smirk. "I don't work well under duress."

The Vampire strained to keep his fangs up, it was clear to him what she was saying. In a subtle way, she was telling him that if he forced her to work for him, he wouldn't be able to trust if her readings were accurate. She couldn't lie to him right now, but the blood would wear off at some point.

"I will give you free passes into the club for all of you."

"And pay for the bar tab."

"First round for free."

"All or nothing."

Jackie, Jason and Hoyt watched Sookie and Eric's interactions with great interest. Their stance was identical - backs straight, arms folded, mouths set in a firm line. They both had fire in their eyes and refused to back down. The Were-Witch stepped forward and stretched out her arms to protect the human men, which confused both Jason and Hoyt and led to a struggle between the three of them as to who was going to be shielding who. This, in turn, broke the tension between Sookie and Eric as the Telepath and the Vampire turned to watch the scuffle.

"Fine." Eric ground out from gritted teeth. "Free entry and bar tab, just ... keep them from doing _that._"

"Guys!" Sookie clapped her hands. "Enough with the happy slappin', let's shoot the craw."

Eric watched the group climb into a black truck with pink and aqua swirls down the side, but when Sookie took a step towards the vehicle he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't we ride together hmm?"

The Telepath froze. "I'd rather not."

"Despite my wording, it wasn't a request." Eric slowly walked over to the passenger side of the Corvette and opened the door.

Sookie shrugged at her friends who watched from the confines of Jason's truck and begrudgingly took her seat in the sports car. She watched Eric wince as his car bumped along the drive down to Hummingbird Road and stifled her giggles when it looked like the harm to his car's suspension was causing him physical pain.

"Do you keep your driveway in such a treacherous fashion simply for the amusement value Miss. Stackhouse?"

"Aye, I get so many folk in sports cars visitin' me that the disastrous state of my drive is comedy gold." Sookie deadpanned.

"No need to be rude." Eric smirked at her. "How long ago did you have my blood?"

Sookie sighed; she knew that the journey would be full of questions about things that seemed like a lifetime ago. "Three nights ago."

She watched Eric's profile as he digested the information. He had strong features which were partially obscured by his long blonde hair; his Fangtasia t-shirt was snug over his muscular torso and wide shoulders, she noticed his smirk widen before he turned to look at her. His hand reached out and pressed on her knee, which had been bouncing up and down at a frantic rate.

"Three nights, yet you seem jumpy. Was your itch not scratched sufficiently last night? Current man not up to snuff?"

Rage coloured Sookie's cheeks and she squeezed Eric's hand tightly before pushing it way from her violently. "That is none of your fucking business."

"So that's a 'yes' then?" Eric grinned and slid his hand back onto Sookie's knee. "I can take care of that you know."

Sookie arched an eyebrow and removed his hand for the second time. "Yeah, you offered that three nights ago too."

"You ... refused?" Eric gripped the steering wheel with both hands as Sookie mock-pouted at him.

"Aww ... did I hurt yer feelin's?"

"You are obviously very faithful to your partner." He shrugged and smiled at the Telepath.

Sookie gaped at the Vampire. She was amazed that he thought the only reason she had turned him down was that she was already involved with someone. "I don't have a partner; I had a friend with benefits but he ... he's not around anymore."

Eric was confused. Beside him he had a pretty woman who was, by all accounts, in need of some attention and available but she didn't want him. He knew he was handsome and had an attractive physique, he couldn't understand what was holding her back. Any other woman, human or not, would be very amenable to having sex with him.

"So you're horny and single and here I am, offering you a night of passion. Are you damaged in some way?"

"Stop the fucking car right now. That's it, I've had enough."

Eric watched as Sookie unclipped her seat belt and came to a screeching halt as she opened the door. Angered he exited the car and appeared in front of her as she was trying to flag down Jason's truck. Jason jumped out of the truck and ran to his sister.

"Are you okay Sook?"

"Apart from having some kind of disability, I'm fine." She ground out through her teeth. "Eric seems surprised I'm not interested in a ride on the Vampire express."

Sookie snorted and tried to pass Eric, but the Vampire wrapped his arms around her and held her in place. "We aren't finished, not by a long shot. Get back in the car."

Jason stood tall despite his fear and glared at Eric. "She don't wanna ride with you means she _ain't_ riding with you. Let her go, we'll come to your club and you can do your talkin' but she rides with us."

Sookie and Jason both heard the click of Eric's fangs elongating, followed by a deep growl in his chest. By this point, Sookie had lost count of the amount of times she had thought she was going to die. And even though her fear consumed her, she simply closed her eyes. Eric felt her resignation through his blood and let go of her, pushing her towards her brother. He was shocked that one so young, and one so full of life, was so complacent about death. Her fear had excited him but her acceptance disturbed him.

"Park behind the club, I will wait for you at the employee entrance."

The four friends watched Eric's Corvette speed into the night before setting off for Shreveport. Jackie and Sookie sat in the back of the truck, waiting for the boys to get sick of silence and start talking about sports. It only took ten minutes for that to happen. Jackie turned to the Telepath and spoke in hushed tones.

"What happened?"

"He wanted to have sex, I didn't. His blood is ... powerful, I'm horny all the bloody time but I'm no givin' in."

Jackie was confused. "He's hot, he wants you, yer horny, what is it that's holdin' ye back? Is it Sam?"

Sookie shrugged. "Maybe, it's only been four weeks."

"Ye say that like he was the love o' yer life. He wisnae, he was a regular shag when ye got lonely." Sookie regretted filling Jackie in on her relationship with Sam and rolled her eyes at the Wolf's comments. "Ye used Sam, so what's so different about usin' Eric?"

"Eric is different. Sam ... had a thing for me, he wanted to settle down."

Jackie's eyes widened as she realised what the real problem was. "So it's fine to use someone who has feelin's for ye but not if they're usin' you right back. That's it isn't it?"

"No really." Sookie huffed and played with the hem of her dress. "If I let Eric use me once ... he'll think he can do it again and again. And if what you say about fairy blood is true ..."

"Bullshit. Ye told me that ye didnae want to settle down with Sam because ye wanted to get out there and have fun, how much fun are ye gonnae have in Bon Temps? Is there a steady stream o' hot guys that ye can't _hear_ floodin' through the doors o' Merlotte's?"

Sookie glared at her friend but pursed her lips. The remainder of the journey passed in stony silence.

~v~

Eric approached the back door of Fangtasia and threw it open to find Pam waiting on the other side. She raised an eyebrow at the fact he was alone.

"Where is she?"

"She ... will be arriving with her friends. You're ... excited."

Pam shrugged; she _was_ excited to meet Sookie. She'd never been able to catch a fairy, she'd only seen, and smelled, them from afar. Since Eric had told her everything last night, including how tasty Sookie smelled, she had been very interested in meeting her ... and other things.

"Are you saying you would turn down the opportunity for part-Fae blood?"

"Not at all." Eric grimaced. "But she can't be glamoured, therefore it has to be consensual and I very much doubt you'll have better luck than me."

Eric turned back to the parking lot where he saw Jason's truck pulling in. He felt the faint disturbance of air as Pam disappeared, only to return seconds later wearing a mischievous grin. The Vampire checked on Sookie's emotions, resisting from holding his head in his hands. She was sad, angry and frustrated. He groaned internally, he had been hoping her mood might have improved after spending time with her friends.

"Is she _ever_ happy? What the hell was I thinking? I gave my blood to a manic depressive!"

Pam sniggered behind him and watched as four people walked cautiously toward the door. A blonde woman, fairly pretty with extremely nice breasts, was first to greet them. Pam guessed this creature was Sookie. She inhaled deeply, leaning forward to get closer to the Telepath.

"You smell ... divine." Pam crooned as her fangs ran out.

"Pam!" Eric glared at his child, he needed to get this meeting over with and make sure everyone knew where they stood. The way the evening was going, Sookie was likely to bolt.

"My most humble apologies." She gestured to Jackie, Jason and Hoyt, pointing them in the direction of the bar. "Tell the bartender you are guests of Eric and Pam. We will have your Sookie back by your side in a jiffy."

Jackie waited for a second, looking at Sookie. When the Telepath made a shooing motion with her hands, Jackie reluctantly followed Jason and Hoyt into the bar. Sookie walked behind Eric as he led her into his office, looking at the cluttered desk and sagging couch. When the door closed and Sookie heard the click of the lock she spun round to find Pam smirking at her. Pam stretched out her hand in greeting and Sookie eyed it warily, as did Eric.

"Pam Ravenscroft."

The Telepath held out her hand tentatively. "Sookie Stackhouse."

She felt the sting as soon as Pam's hand clasped her own and pulled back instantly.

"Oh dear! I'm so clumsy!" Pam grinned at the cut the razor hidden in her palm had made. "Here, let me."

Sookie stepped back quickly. "I don't fuckin' think so bitch. No need!"

"Pamela!" Eric growled and his child stopped her advance on the Telepath. "Leave us."

Pam narrowed her eyes, angry that her plan to have her first taste of Fae had been foiled by her own maker. She hissed at him before unlocking the door and slamming it closed behind with such force that the walls shook. Eric made his way to where Sookie was standing; he didn't have to tap into the blood tie to know that she was livid. He gazed at the red wound in her hand, the scent was over-powering and his fangs ached to lap at the cut but he knew he had to treat Sookie with kid gloves.

_Softly, softly_.

Sookie's eyes widened as she was sucked into Eric's mind. It was like being blind and trapped in a small room. She shook her head and Eric peered at her with interest before going to his private shower room to get a towel. When he returned, Sookie still looked in a state of shock and he was surprised when she allowed him to take her hand.

"I can stop the bleeding better if you allow me to feed on the blood. After we feed, we release coagulant through our saliva to help close the wounds."

Sookie looked at the towel, at Eric, at the rapidly pooling blood in her hand and then back to Eric, focussing on his mouth. She wondered if he had set this up, Jackie had told her he would want to taste her. But then she remembered his reaction to what Pam had done and concluded he was simply an opportunist. Wasn't everyone? With the amount of blood and the fact that the wound throbbed hotly rather than stinging, it was a deep cut that seemed to run from the base of her fingers to the base of her thumb. She couldn't be sure until the blood flow was stemmed. Sookie thought that she may actually need to get some stitches. She looked into Eric's eyes and nodded slowly.

"No funny stuff."

"Of course not." Eric smirked and bent his head to her wound.

Sookie watched as the Vampire lapped at her hand and tried to control her feelings at his close proximity. But the groan of wanting he exhaled when he swallowed his first mouthful of her blood made her weak. Eric licked and sucked at Sookie's injury, marvelling at how rich and fragrant her life-force was. He breathed in the scent of her, her essence, her skin and her arousal. It made him giddy and hard as a rock. When there was no more blood for him to drink, he sealed her wound but continued to run his tongue further up her arm, past her wrist, then crashed his mouth to hers. He jumped back when she bit him and before he could focus on her face he felt her stinging blow as she slapped him.

"I said no funny stuff, bawbag."

"And still she resists." Eric smirked, knowing full well how the experience had affected her. "I can make you feel good, Sookie. Don't you want to feel good?"

"I _want_ to feel safe!" Sookie snatched her hand away from him and looked at it, the skin was still raw but it was no longer bleeding. She would need to take care and dress it when she had the chance. "Do you have a first aid kit? I need to keep this clean."

Eric nodded, thinking about her comment on safety. It hadn't occurred to him before, he had been wrapped up in his 'recruitment' of a Telepath, but she would need to be kept safe. Hidden, even. He went out to the bar and grabbed the green box from beside the till and returned to his office to find Sookie sitting on the couch, staring at her hand. She accepted the kit with a small smile and a nod and he leaned on his desk and watched as she smeared cream and wrapped gauze.

"I will keep you safe. You are my asset and it's my responsibility to ensure your safety."

"Really?" Sookie remarked dryly. "And who's going to keep me safe from you? I've lost count of the number o' times I've thought you were gonnae end me over the last week."

Eric simply nodded and moved to sit next to her on the couch; he noted that she scooted further away from him when he did. "I would like to test your abilities. Would you be amenable to read a human for me right now?"

"Sure, it's not like my night isn't already ruined." Sookie shrugged.

The Vampire was slightly confused by her statement but fired off a text to Pam for her to bring in Ginger. A few moments later the door to his office opened and his child entered with the ditzy waitress in tow.

"Sookie, this is Ginger."

Ginger eyed Sookie with some apprehension but mostly jealousy. When the waitress looked at the Telepath she saw herself ten years ago and wondered if her boss would pay her more attention if she were still young and firm and unscarred by the various vampires who had fed on her. Sookie quirked an eyebrow at Ginger before turning a questioning gaze to Eric and flicking her eyes toward Pam.

"Pam is my child, we don't have secrets and you can be assured she will keep it to herself."

Sookie thought about that for a moment, she knew that maker and child were bound by blood until final death. Pam knowing she was part-Fae explained her earlier actions with the razor blade and Sookie was quite sure that Eric could control her. She was angry but understood his situation. "So ... what am I looking for?"

"Looking for? You can't read her?" Eric glanced at Pam and Ginger.

Sookie snorted. "She's comin' in loud and clear ... mostly. But how am I supposed to look for information when I don't know what information to look for?"

Eric's brows knitted together slightly and Sookie sighed. He leaned forward on his seat and steepled his fingers together at his chin. "Ginger, how much was in the drop last night?"

"$8,000." The waitress' voice was clear and confident ... unlike her thoughts.

Sookie frowned and got up from her seat, walking towards Ginger and placing a hand on her shoulder. "How much?"

"$8,000, are you deaf?" Ginger sneered.

"Somethin' isn't right, her memories o' the till count say they counted $10,000, she's giving us the wrong answer but she believes that it's right."

Pam and Eric looked at each other for a second before Eric spoke. "Thank you Sookie. Pam ... if you could do the honours?"

Sookie watched with interest as Pam glamoured Ginger into thinking that she had never been in the office or seen Sookie. Once Pam and Ginger had left the office, Eric turned to Sookie.

"You just confirmed something for me. Money has been going missing and we didn't know who was behind it. Ginger's confusion narrows the list of suspects to Vampires."

"Well, glad to be o' service. Can I go and drink with my friends now?"

"The night is young, and I have more questions."

"Yeah, _you_ would." Sookie huffed and threw herself back onto the couch.

"Tell me how we met."

"Sam Merlotte was killed by a vampire, you came to ask questions. Next."

"How did you find out other Vampires wanted to use you?"

"A Vampire came to the bar and tried to glamour me. He mentioned me bein' a telepath and somethin' about my cousin. Then when you came back, you were all friendly, so we cast a truth spell on ye where ye revealed that ye'd been sent to befriend me for yer boss."

"I see. You knew my motivations weren't innocent? That's very reassuring ... to know that you don't trust easily and, may I say, casting a truth spell on a vampire? Very dangerous." Sookie worried about Eric's comment for an extremely short time. He smiled widely and leaned towards her. "_You_ are a very interesting woman, Miss. Stackhouse."

"Yeah, you've said that before too."

Eric wondered exactly how much of the last forty-eight hours had been repetitive for her. Before he went to rest that morning, he checked the safe in his home to find he already had a file on Sookie. The Vampire considered contacting Laurie Gallagher but decided against it – the chances are he thought of that the first time he looked at the file and calling the Were-wolf again would make him look ... crazy. Sookie's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"So, what, exactly, are ye gonnae do with me? I'm a Telepath; I've proved I'm a Telepath, what next?"

"I would like you to sit in on business meetings, spend time in the bar looking for underage drinkers and such." Eric narrowed his eyes as Sookie started laughing. She laughed so hard she was bent double and the only thing that shook her out of it was Eric's growling. "The idea is amusing to you?"

"Eric, I'm a bar manager. I work well over seventy hours a week and I work every single day. I take my job seriously; it requires planning and communication skills, not to mention keeping the customers in check. What on earth makes you think I have the time or inclination to sit and bore myself listening for people who might piss you off?"

"You will be well recompensed."

"It's no about money. I have responsibilities. I can't be at Merlotte's trying to keep it afloat _and_ be here pointin' out drunken college kids. Expectin' me to do both is just stupid, I've got no intention of hospitalisin' myself for exhaustion." Eric was not expecting that. "Last night I specified that I would use my Telepathy for ye now and again, which means no more than once a month."

Eric pondered on that for a moment. At first he was annoyed that she wouldn't be available to him whenever, but he respected that she was responsible and hard-working. Telepaths were rare, having one all to himself was exciting, but the more instances she used her ability for him – the more exposure she would get. That would mean more vampires knowing about her and, in turn, more vampires that would want to use her talents. Her safety depended on her anonymity, the less hidden she was - the more danger she was in.

"No more than once a month, on one condition."

Sookie groaned and slumped in her seat. "And what would that be?"

In a flash Eric had her pinned to the arm of the couch, his body covered hers and his eyes shone with desire as he looked into Sookie's eyes. "Yield to me, Sookie."


	6. Jackie's Stramash

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that Vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to C. Harris.

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

_A/N: Bobby Burnham appears in this chapter and after his twitter player mentioned in the Fangreaders chat room that he's originally from Glasgow (no idea if CH knows or cares about that), I decided to go with that ... because it's funny in the context of this particular fic._

Sookie's eyes darkened. Not with lust; but with rage. Eric noticed the change and pulled back a little, unsure of what the Telepath would do. He realised he had severely miscalculated Miss. Stackhouse. She was no pushover, she wouldn't be cajoled. Sookie was thinking along different lines, to her it wasn't cajoling – it was blackmail. And she would not stand for it.

"Do I look like a fucking prostitute?"

"Well, your lack of brassiere sends an ambiguous message ..." Eric's fangs snapped down as Sookie laid another stinging blow against his cheek.

"Just shut the fuck up." She snarled. "I get that ye want a roll in the hay with me but have you thought maybe there would be more o' a chance if ye didnae require it as payment for somethin'? Ye could maybe try complimentin' my outfit or ... I dunno ... NOT THREATENING TO KILL ME!"

"I was striking a deal." Eric growled deep in his chest.

"No, ye were trying to get yer end away." Sookie was done with games; she was done playing things _his_ way. "I won't use my abilities for ye more than once a month, if ye continue to threaten me or my family; I won't use them at all. I don't have a lot o' family left, what'll yer leverage be when ye've done away with them? If ye touch a hair on any o' their heids what chances do ye think ye've got o' me workin' for ye and bein' truthful and effective?"

The Vampire pulled back and thought on that one. Sookie could see the cogs turning in his mind. He realised that the more he pushed her, the further she got from him. And Sookie knew as soon as he reached that conclusion.

"What'll it be? Ye can travel all over picking off my family. Or, ye can try bein' nice to me. The first option'll wear me down and I might be useless through grief and anger. The second option works. Ye catch mair flies with honey than vinegar."

~v~

Jackie was on her fifth shot of Jaeger and watching Jason hopelessly try to pick up Pam. She squealed as she was thrown over a shoulder and put back down on the dance floor. The Were-Witch giggled as Hoyt pulled her flush against him and bent down to her ear.

"Did I tell you that you look real pretty tonight? You look pretty every night I've seen you, but tonight ... hot damn!"

"I'm only here for another week, Hoyt, I really like ye but ..."

"But nothin', that just means we only have a week to cram in as much fun as we can!"

Jason caught them out of the corner of his eye. He knew Hoyt had a thing for Jackie but he never figured his friend would act on it. As he watched Hoyt and Jackie practically dry hump in the middle of the club, he decided to focus on his own mission for the night – Pam.

~v~

Adele watched in wonder as they drove to where Campsie Runners had their weekly meeting. On the way to the Masonic Halls in Anniesland, she had been fascinated by the shipyards they drove past on the way there, absorbing all of the information Betty and Jim imparted about them. Warships, Frigates, Cruise ships – they had all been built there on the banks of the Clyde. She was excited when Betty suggested a trip to the Gare Loch and Faslane so they could try and do some submarine spotting. Adele had never seen a submarine before.

"What do you do at these meetings, Jim? You don't all change do you?"

Jim laughed. "Naw, naw, we address pack business, approve matin's and such like."

"Approve Matings? So, a couple need to have the pack say yes or no before they can have a baby?"

"Och aye. Because only the first born child of any couple is a Were, only the strongest breed together."

"What about after the first born? Can they ... uh ... mate with anyone?"

She saw Jim squeeze Betty's hand in the front seats of the car and Jim sighed happily. "Thankfully, aye."

~v~

Sookie walked out to the bar area, determined to salvage what she could from the night. She spotted Jackie and Hoyt dirty dancing, and Jason was sitting sadly at the bar on his own. The Telepath made her way over to her brother and hopped onto the stool next to him, holding her hand up to gain the bartender's attention.

"You look like you've been kicked in the nads." She smiled at Jason.

"I might as well have been. Pam threatened to drain me if I went near her again but damn that's a pretty girl!"

Sookie snorted. "She's no a girl Jason; she's a vampire. Different thing altogether. Besides, I don't like her much."

"Really? Why?" Sookie held up her bandaged hand and Jason's eyes gaped. "Did that bitch cut you?"

"Aye, apparently I smell sooooo fuckin' tasty she decided to slash me with a razor and then try to drink the blood."

"Fucking bitch! I oughta tan her hide ... but I won't on account of her bein' a girl and a vampire and all."

"I think Eric'll have a few choice words for her."

Jason smirked. "So how was your 'meeting'?"

Sookie snorted at his use of air quotes, she had figured everyone would think she was having sex with Eric rather than talking. She had to admit, he was a handsome Vampire and she was very much attracted to him ... physically. Eventually she managed to get a drink from a creepy Native American Vampire at the bar and took a gulp before answering Jason's question.

"It was fine. We made a deal, he was a dick, we're all set."

"Oh! It really _was_ a meeting?" Sookie nodded. "To get you to use your ... uh ... thing."

Again, Sookie nodded and looked back to the dance floor. Connie the Corpse called for people to start getting wild and when Sookie heard the opening chords of The Lost Prophets 'Burn, Burn' a wide grin settled on her face. Grabbing her brother she charged on to the dance floor. All of the anger, all of the stress and all of her problems disappeared as she let loose.

Eric watched from his booth, she was a whirlwind of energy. So wild and free. He felt her tension release as she jumped, shook and waved her arms while singing along. Pam sat next to him and smirked.

"Did my little plan work better for you than me?"

"What you did was impulsive and stupid, Pam. I expected better from you, I _taught_ you better."

Pam lowered her head, suitable chastened. "I apologise, Master."

"No need for that." He waved off her use of the term, he preferred her to call him by his first name. "But Sookie plays hard ball, she won't be threatened or blackmailed ... it's very interesting."

Pam tried to decipher Eric's facial expression. There was admiration there, and that shocked her. They were Vampires; admiration for their food was ... unheard of. She found the changes in his behaviour over the past couple of days to be perturbing. And the way he looked at the part-Fae Telepath as she spun around on the dance floor made her think that there would be more changes to come.

~v~

Sookie turned up for her late shift the next day feeling like a new woman. The music on WDED the night before had been fantastic, there were only a couple of songs that she didn't want to dance to. Jackie and Hoyt had spent the journey home feeling each other up, which made Sookie and Jason decidedly uncomfortable. It wasn't what they were doing that bothered the brother and sister, but the fact that they didn't have anyone to do something similar with.

Sookie made sure to tell all the workers at Merlotte's that they'd be having a small staff meeting the next morning before opening. She needed to discuss the future of the establishment with them and go over the changes she'd be making to the schedules and people's roles and responsibilities. She wondered why Sam had been able to make it seem so effortless, but when she saw his trailer out of the office window she knew why. He didn't have to pay for gas to get to and from work; he also had lower property taxes and maintenance on his home. As the Telepath gazed at the site she had a bright idea, one that would expand their customer base and increase profits. But it would cost money and it would also involve getting in touch with Sam's family. She looked up Sam's Mom's number from the battered address book in the desk drawer.

When Sookie returned to the bar to find some trash bags, she noticed Jackie and Hoyt making moon eyes at each other in one of the booths. Lafayette had also noticed and quirked an eyebrow at Sookie as he nodded towards them.

"Loves young dream huh baby cakes?"

Sookie shrugged. "Holiday romance is more like it sugar tits."

She winked at Lafayette as he high fived her. Suddenly, they stopped laughing as the most wonderful smell wafted into the bar. Sookie spun round and came face to face with a man of average height with mousy brown hair and a stern look on his face. But it was what was in his hand that she was more interested in.

"Can I help ye?"

The man tilted his head slightly and smiled at Sookie. "Hi, I'm Bobby Burnham. I'm looking for Sookie Stackhouse."

"Well, ye've found her. What can I do for ye?"

"You can keep talking for one." He laughed. "Do I detect a Glasgow twang?"

Sookie's eyes twinkled as she smiled at him. "Aye, Merrylee. Are ye from Glasgow yersel?"

Bobby nodded. "Baillieston, but I lost my accent long ago. Oh! I have a delivery for you."

He handed the heavenly scented box to Sookie and she inhaled deeply. "Mmmmm tablet. I've tried very hard to keep my accent, drives the guys' wild." She winked at him.

"Not just human guys, I'm employed by Eric Northman – he sent you that. Tablet, macaroons, coconut ice and Millionaire's shortbread. It's all on the card."

Sookie opened the gift card that was taped to the top of the box and as she opened it, she dipped into Bobby's mind.

_Merrylee? Folks must be well-off. A Bar Manager to boot, seems like s decent hard working girl. I wonder why Mr. Northman is so interested in her._

Lafayette peeked over Sookie's shoulder to read the card. "Sweets for the sweet? Oh girl, I knows he ain't talkin' bout you!"

Sookie and Lafayette laughed as she swatted him playfully and fluttered her eyelashes. "I'm sweet as can be."

"Uh huh, an' did you show some o' that sweetness last night?"

"I most certainly did not. He'll need to do better than sweeties to get my legs to magically open."

Bobby cleared his throat again and held his hand out to Sookie. "It was nice meeting you Miss. Stackhouse. I've got other errands to run, so I have to go."

"Thanks Bobby, it was good to meet you too. Lang may yer lum reek."

Bobby laughed and clapped his hands. "Oh it's been so long since I heard that. I'll have to drop by another time just to hear you talk!"

"You do that Bobby."

Sookie and Lafayette waited a respectable time after Bobby's departure before tearing the box open and salivating over the sugary treats. Lafayette picked up a piece of tablet and licked it experimentally.

"Hell girl! That stuff is pure sugar!"

Sookie placed a piece in her mouth and moaned as it melted on her tongue. "Mmmm yep. Nothin' but brown sugar, butter and vanilla."

Lafayette shook his head and smiled. "No wonder y'all need free dental in the UK."

~v~

Night fell and Jackie went out on a date with Hoyt, once again leaving Sookie bristling with jealousy and frustration. She mumbled under her breath about the vampire blood wearing off sooner rather than later. When there was a lull in customers, Sookie went back to her office and dialled Eric's number.

"_Northman."_

"Stackhouse. Thanks for the sweets, a nice taste of home. It was very thoughtful of ye. What do ye want?"

Eric laughed deeply. _"Well, last night you suggested being nice to you. So I'm being nice."_

"And that's all?"

"_Yes, that's all. May I visit you? A ... social call, I think it's known as."_

Sookie sighed. She really wasn't sure a social call from Eric would be a good thing. "I'm not sure about that, Eric. I don't think spending quality time together is a good idea."

"_I find you interesting. I would like to know more about you. We're going to be working together, after all. Wouldn't it be better if we could do so without being at each other's throats?"_

The Telepath held the phone away from her ear and made a face at it, sticking her tongue out rudely. "Fine." She sighed. "I'm workin' til half one tonight, tomorrow and the next night but Monday I finish at eight."

"_Fangtasia is closed on Mondays; I'll come to your house at nine."_

Sookie was about to agree to the visit but found Eric had hung up the phone. She went back out to the bar to find it was busy with the people of Bon Temps singing and dancing ... and drinking. The Telepath smiled and went behind the bar to help Lafayette.

~v~

Sookie slumped in the chair in her office. It had been a good night. It seemed every weekend the take went up and that meant she was doing the right thing. She locked up for the night and went back home, only to find that there weren't any lights on. She frowned, Hoyt had assured her that he'd have Jackie back before she got home from Merlotte's and Sookie had been sure they would have wanted to take advantage of an empty house at their disposal. Using her Telepathy, Sookie confirmed that no-one was home. Worried, scared and angry, she called Hoyt's cell phone. When he didn't pick up right away, her concerns grew. Just when she was going to hang up and call Jason to find out what he knew, the call was picked up.

"Hoyt? Where are ye?"

"_He's ... indisposed right now."_

Sookie's eyes widened as she heard the gruff voice that didn't belong to Hoyt. "What have you done to him and where's Jackie, the girl he was with?"

"_They're ... safe, as in unharmed ... for now. What's it to you?"_

"Jackie is my guest and Hoyt is my friend. Why do you have them?"

"_All wolves know to check in with the local pack master before they can hunt."_

Sookie closed her eyes, this wasn't good for anyone. "She's not here to hunt, there isn't a full moon for another ten days and she'll be back home by then. There was no reason for her to check in. Which pack do ye represent?"

"_I don't think that's any of your business sweetheart. They'll be back before sunrise. Whether they're in pieces or not depends on them."_

The call was disconnected before Sookie could ask further questions and when she tried calling again the cell was turned off. The Telepath slumped in a chair at the kitchen table and hated herself for what she was about to do. But her choices were limited and she needed help. Help of the supernatural kind.

"_Twice in one night Sookie?"_

"I need help Eric. My friends have been taken by a wolf pack and I need to find them."

"_Where were they taken from?"_

"Uh ... they went to the movies in Shreveport, so I'm guessing from there."

"_The only pack in the Shreveport area is the Longtooth pack. I have a contact there."_

"Eric ... I really need to know where they are. Jackie will be gone before the next full moon, she won't need to hunt. If anything happened to them ... I couldn't live with myself."

"_Meet me outside Fangtasia as soon as you can."_

~v~

Eric finished his call with Sookie and glamoured the girl he had fed from. Tonight he had ensured the blood tie with Sookie was firmly closed and had found the experience more satisfying. Sexually, he had been pleased with Briana but her blood tasted chalky and stale. He was thankful that he needed only a sip occasionally to keep his strength up but couldn't help wondering why Briana's blood was so substandard. He closed his eyes and remembered drinking from Sookie; hers was the most exquisite blood he'd had since he drained a full blooded fairy two hundred years ago. But with Sookie there was no frenzy or desire to drain her dry, she tasted good but not so good he couldn't stop. The perfect combination. Shaking his head he dialled his Were contact with the Longtooth pack.

"_Herveaux, who's speaking?"_

"Eric Northman. Alcide, do you happen to be in Shreveport right now?"

"_Whatever job you want me to do can wait, we have very important pack business right now."_

"Important, as in terrorising the guest of my acquaintance and her date for the evening?"

"_Shit ... you know them?" _Eric heard Alcide whisper to someone close by to stop what they were doing. _"She didn't check in with the local pack for hunting privileges."_

"I'm sure if she required to hunt while here she would have, but I understand she will be leaving the USA before the next full moon. Where are you?"

"_At the compound where we keep all the heavy plant. Look, we're just doing our duty."_

"No, you're looking for trouble where there isn't any and scaring a human unnecessarily. I will come for them."

Without waiting for a reply, as usual, Eric ended the call and busied himself with residency applications until he could feel Sookie's approach. He made sure the building was secure and waited by his car. Sookie stopped next to where Eric stood and wound down the window.

"Do ye know where they are?"

"Yes, you can follow me in your old lady car."

Sookie frowned; she _knew_ everyone would think it was an old lady car. Despite appearances; the Buick managed to keep up with Eric's Corvette all the way to a fenced off lot. Sookie saw wrecking balls, cranes and diggers behind the sign that told them the lot belonged to Herveaux Construction. Eric pressed his hand on the horn of his car and revved the engine as the gates of the lot slowly opened. The Telepath cautiously followed the Vampire, feeling her heart rate pick up as her car was surrounded by the snarling minds of Were-Wolves. As soon as her car door was closed she rushed to stand next to Eric, she knew how to take care of herself but she wasn't stupid enough to think they wouldn't attack her if they thought she was without protection.

"I understand you have a couple of things that belong to my ... friend here."

Eric's voice echoed against the machinery, making him sound more sinister than he already did. A tall Were with closely cropped silver grey hair stepped forward and crossed his arms, glaring at Sookie and Eric in equal measure.

"Wolves don't belong to anyone but their pack, to even joke about one belonging to a human is insulting."

"She's my guest; therefore she's been left in my care. The human with her is my friend. I want to see them." Sookie walked a few steps and copied the Were's stance.

There was growling in the group and Eric noticed a couple of the Wolves moving to flank Sookie. He moved to stand behind the Telepath and placed his hands on her shoulders. "And this one is under _my_ care. An attack on her is an attack on me and the Vampires in my retinue."

The Were's leader looked shocked, Eric had shocked himself with the statement but didn't let it show. He wondered what on earth it was about this woman that would make him threaten all out war between Vampires and Were-Wolves if she was harmed. Bolstered by Eric's presence and words, Sookie raised her chin proudly.

"My name is Sookie Stackhouse, can I get yours?"

"Colonel John Flood, pack master. Your guest has broken one of the most basic rules ..."

"Naw, she hasn't. She won't be here during the full moon, so she's no reason to request hunting privileges. I informed whoever has Hoyt's cell phone o' that earlier tonight. I want to see them."

Colonel Flood growled and his eyes glowed but when he heard Eric's fangs pop into position he beckoned them forward. They were lead to a small clearing amongst the machinery, where Jackie and Hoyt were both gagged and bound to metal folding chairs. Sookie broke away from Eric and ran to Jackie, pulling the dirty rag from her mouth and embracing her before going to Hoyt and doing the same thing.

"You say she plans to return before the next run but where's your proof?"

The Colonel stood tall next to Sookie, trying to intimidate her 5'6" frame with his much larger one. Sookie put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him before stalking back to her car and pulling a pile of documents from the passenger seat. She stomped back to the Pack Master and thrust the pile towards him. Flood read through the papers briefly before handing them back and smirking at Sookie.

"Sweetheart, she has a return ticket. That's all. That's your proof?" The Were's that had congregated started to laugh. Sookie smiled sweetly and pointed to an unopened envelope that the Colonel hadn't looked at. "What's this? A note from her Mommy?"

"Actually, yes. Jackie's mother is the Campsie Runners Beta female and Jackie is the pack Shaman there. I'm gonnae take a rough guess an' say that the contents o' that envelope willnae be a go ahead to kidnap and beat her daughter."

Colonel Flood read the letter, which confirmed everything Sookie had just told him and turned to two young Wolves that stood behind him. "She belongs to a pack! Did you even ask if she belonged to a pack when you approached?"

Sookie frowned. "You thought she was a loner?"

Jackie was stamping her feet on the ground to get Sookie's attention. When Sookie went to her, the Were-Witch tried to stretch out her hand, indicating that the Telepath should touch her. When Sookie placed a hand on Jackie's knee, Jackie broadcast everything that happened that evening. After reading everything from her friend's mind, Sookie gently touched her face and Jackie jerked back in an exaggerated move.

"Did they ask if she belonged to a pack before or after they broke her jaw? How many other Weres have been brought to you in this condition and punished when they couldn't defend themselves?"

Colonel Flood simply looked at his pack, settling his gaze on the two Weres that had brought Jackie and Hoyt to them. "Take these two and hold them. Release the Shaman and the human."

Sookie went to help the pack untie her friends and Eric watched. He felt very ... redundant, he had come here expecting to negotiate for the release only to find Sookie had done everything on her own. The only help she needed from him was to get to where they were being held and gain audience. He knew she was a woman unaccustomed to having others speak for her, and for some reason he felt ... proud that she associated herself with him. He wondered if Jackie's jaw would heal before she returned to Glasgow, Were's healed faster than humans but not as fast as Vampires. When Sookie and the Weres had placed Jackie and Hoyt in the back seat of the Buick, Eric made his way to the Telepath.

"Will your friend require healing?"

Sookie sighed and rubbed her hand on her forehead. "Yeah, we should take them to hospital. Hoyt will probably need checked over too."

"Bring them to Fangtasia, I will organise something."

The Telepath was unsure of what Eric would organise but agreed to go. She didn't want Hoyt to remember any of the evening's horrors and she would need Eric or another vampire to facilitate that. While she hated that she was so dependent on Eric for this situation, she completely failed to see how her actions were viewed by the Vampire. While he drove back to Fangtasia, he sent texts to Pam and Thalia.

~v~

Sookie got to Fangtasia and frowned at the black van sitting in the parking lot. One thing she knew was that black vans always had something to hide. She got out of the car and as she was about to try and get Hoyt onto his feet, Eric was by her side.

"Let me. I can carry both of them."

Sookie nodded slowly but stayed silent. She watched as Eric gently laid Hoyt across one shoulder and Jackie over the other and followed him into his office where he deposited both of them on the sofa. The Telepath looked around, they were the only ones in the room, she dropped her shields and counted three Vampires in the direction of the main bar. Eric gestured for her to follow him and she walked in to find Pam and two vampires she didn't recognise.

"Eric, this is highly unusual. I don't like it." The Vampire with black curly hair snarled at Sookie. She was tiny but Sookie could feel power rolling from her.

"It's unusual, Thalia, but this thief is scheduled to meet final death. Before we dispatch him, we can do some good."

Sookie was concerned that Eric was about to break some kind of vampire code. "Umm ... are ye sure about this Eric? I'll take them to the hospital, it's no bother."

Pam clapped her hands and smiled. "There, see? Sookie will take them for medical attention and we can forget this ever happened."

"No. This will go on the ever increasing tab that the Weres have with me, they did the damage and I provide the healing."

With a glance at Sookie, she knew he was also telling her that her debt was also racking up. He stood in front of the bloodied vampire who was chained in silver. Sookie realised he was the bartender from Friday night.

"Longshadow, you've stolen $60,000 from me. Did you think it would go unnoticed?" Longshadow grunted. "It has been documented that you have stolen from your employer and Sherriff and used your glamour to attempt to hide your crime. As you know, it is against the law that the humans have imposed on us to use glamour in these types of incidence."

Pam and Thalia smirked at each other. The human authorities had made a puny law to prevent them using the most basic of vampire talents, although they never thought they would see a time where it backfired. It was unheard of that a Vampire, and a Sherriff at that, would basically snitch on one of his own kind for doing something that came so naturally.

"For these crimes I, Eric Northman, Sherriff of Area Five Louisiana, pass the sentence of final death. You cannot be trusted to work or exist among Vampires or humans. And no-one steals from me."

Eric nodded to Pam and she handed him a penknife and a bowl, he slashed at Longshadow's arm and squeezed the sluggish blood from his veins. When the bowl was full, he put it aside and held his hand out to Thalia. She passed him a stake and a mallet. Sookie watched as he hammered the stake into Longshadow's chest and the Vampire slowly reduced to a scorch mark on the chair. Eric picked up the bowl and handed it to Sookie.

"Take this to your friends. Longshadow was old, they won't need much."

The Telepath nodded and accepted the bowl, careful not to spill any as she walked back to the office. Jackie and Hoyt were propped up against each arm; both were awake but obviously in pain. She went to Hoyt first, putting the bowl to his lips and asking him to drink. He opened his mouth, looking in Sookie's eyes as he sipped at the blood. Sookie nodded and stroked the top of his head as he drank; Hoyt knew that Sookie would never do anything to hurt him. When he had had enough, Sookie pulled the bowl away and went to Jackie. She looked into the Were-Witch's eyes and nodded, Jackie needed no reassurance. She knew that it was vampire blood and her hearing was advanced enough to have caught on to what happened in the other room. Soon the bowl was empty and Eric returned to his office.

"How much do I owe ye?" Sookie placed the bowl on Eric's desk and turned to face him.

"Taking you to the site was my payment to you for your reading of Ginger on Friday. Arranging the healing will be used instead of financial recompense for your next reading."

Sookie winced. "And asking you to glamour Hoyt into forgetting everything that happened tonight?"

Eric's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Oh, I'm sure we can come up with something."

The Telepath narrowed her eyes at the Vampire and crossed her arms over her chest. "Just like you, I don't like bein' in debt. What do ye want; another free readin'? That would mean I'm clear in two months."

"Why don't we get your friends home and discuss this at another time?"

Sookie huffed and checked on Hoyt and Jackie before fishing her car keys from her pocket. "If ye don't give me a price by 10pm tomorrow night, the slate is clean. You know how to contact me."

Eric watched as she left his office with her friends, he was stunned at her audacity. When his mind turned to all of the ways Sookie could make up her debt to him, he grinned. If she wanted to play hard ball that was just fine with him ... he just hoped she could handle the return throws.


	7. Hate crime fannies

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that Vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to C. Harris.

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

Sookie sat at the bar with a cup of coffee and looked over the cards she had her 'speech' written on. She felt like hell after everything that had happened the night before. When she had left for work, Jackie was still bouncing off the walls from her infusion of Vampire blood. The Were-Witch had been too wired to sleep after they dropped off a glamoured Hoyt and had decided the best way to wind down was to make four gallons of lentil soup. The Telepath had brought most of it to Merlotte's with her to put on the menu and had given Lafayette Betty's recipe for cheese scones to serve with it. Although August in Louisiana wasn't really the time of year for soup, Sookie hoped that people would order it to satisfy their curiosity about Scottish cooking.

The roughly sketched plans for her idea were strewn on the bar in front of her when Lafayette and Arlene arrived. Terry, Holly, Danielle and Charlsie came in not long after. Sookie took a deep breath and nodded to her staff before asking Lafayette and Arlene to join her standing.

"Thanks for comin' in today. I know for a couple of ye's it's your day off and others won't be startin' until later. I'll try no to keep ye's too long. First of all I want to thank ye's for the amazin' job ye's do every single day, I'm sure Sam is proud of the effort each and every one o' us puts in to keep Merlotte's going in his name."

There were murmurs of agreement through the group and a lot of nodding. Sookie fiddled with the cards in her hands and Arlene raised a questioning brow to Lafayette over her manager's shoulder.

"Right, so ... umm ... Merlotte's has been doin' really well but I'm not." There were gasps of surprise and Sookie could hear a couple of the waitresses wondering if she was sick in some way. "I'm tired, I haven't had a day off in over a month and that's why Arlene and Laffy are standing next to me here. I need to share the responsibility of this place. You all know that Arlene is taking on a bit more but recently Laffy has been a star helping out and taking on things that he really isn't paid for. I want to change that."

As Sookie spoke about her plans to have Arlene and Lafayette as assistant managers and recruit a couple of waitresses and busboys to ease the load, everyone was wondering where the money was coming from to pay for all of it. The Telepath had been keeping track of everyone's thoughts, trying to make sure her announcement was answering all of their questions before they asked them. She picked up the stack of drawings from the bar and handed each of them a copy.

"This is how we're going to be able to afford it. I've spoken to Mrs. Merlotte and she's trying to find a buyer for Sam's trailer. The land that it sits on will be turned into a beer garden with a play area where families can sit together, we don't get a lot of people bringing kids in because ... well it's a bar! They don't want their kids hanging around folk like Jane Bodehouse!"

Everyone laughed at that and Arlene chimed in that the beer garden was a great idea for getting people to bring their kids there to eat. Lafayette was thinking about how much more work there would need to be in the kitchen, more work than he could handle. But Sookie had accounted for every snag in the plan. Most of them didn't need any convincing at all, they were happy that Merlotte's was doing well enough to expand – that meant their jobs were secure. Terry was doubtful but soon understood and was happy to be moving into the kitchen with Lafayette, being behind the bar wasn't really something he liked to do. Arlene was pleased that she would no longer need to wear the white shirt of a waitress, but was disappointed when she was told she would need to wear similar protective footwear to Sookie in case she had to move stock for any reason. Sookie liked her steel toe-cap Doc Martins, they were 14 hole cherry reds and she'd had them for almost ten years now. The Telepath referred to them as her shit-kickers, Arlene referred to them as dyke-boots.

"So, are you guys in?"

It would be hard work and there would be some disruption for a while, but everyone clapped excitedly and congratulated Sookie on her vision to make Merlotte's more successful. Sookie just hoped that Mrs. Merlotte would be as enthusiastic when she came to visit in a few days.

~v~

Adele whooped and giggled as she was spun around on the dance floor. The monthly Ceilidh* on the Renfrew Ferry was a sell out, as usual, and the American was entranced by the music, dancing and the sheer number of men in kilts. Betty had told her it would probably be just like a barn dance but it was so much more. The band master winked at Adele as he explained to the unfamiliar how to do the Gay Gordons and Adele blushed as he asked her to come on to the small stage and run through it with him.

Jim laughed and squeezed his wife to his side. "Your pal is having a right good time, look at her giein' it laldy* up there!"

"Aye, I think she's gettin' a lumber* the night!"

When the dance was over, and all of the tired bodies were filing out of the door, Adele felt someone grip her arm lightly. She turned to see the band master smiling at her; she allowed him to pull her to one side and raised her head to look into his twinkling eyes.

"I didnae get yer name bonny lass."

"Oh my! My name is Adele Stackhouse, and you are?"

"William Burnham, but my friends ca' me Billy. Ye've got a right couthie* accent there. Did ye enjoy yer wee birl* on the flair*?"

Adele smiled a smile that made her look crazy. If Sookie had been there she would have known at that moment exactly where she got her smile from.

(*Ceilidh is pronounced Kay-lee. Giein' it laldy means to put your all into something. A lumber is when you meet someone on a night out. Couthie means nice. Birl means spin and flair is floor.)

~v~

Lafayette was at the bar looking at the staff rota that Sookie had made. He was impressed but he had known there was more to Sookie than met the eye when she started at the bar. He thought back to her first day when she balled out Danielle for bitching about Arlene to her. Sookie had proven to be a strict but very fair manager, Lafayette hated to admit it but she ran a much tighter ship than Sam ever did. He smiled at Arlene as she came over for a pitcher of beer.

"So fellow assistant manager, we rockin' this joint or what? Can you imagine any o' this shit goin' down if Sammy were still kickin' around?"

Arlene shook her head. "I don't mean to speak ill of the dead but compared to Sookie, Sam wasn't that great a manager. Aren't you a little mad that you won't have as much time to party as before?"

"Shit, you kiddin' me sweetheart? All that partyin' was me tryin' not ta be bored in this bumfuck town. With all the new stuff our little leadah has in the works I won't have time ta be bored!"

"Speaking of our leader, where is she, back in the office?"

Lafayette nodded. "Yeah she's lookin' into buildin' a website and puttin' out ads for new workers. What do you think about havin' a weekly crawfish boil in the new family section?"

"Oh yeah! That would be great!" Arlene dug the sketch of the bar from her apron and spread it between them. "And I was thinking that if we moved the dumpsters to here, the side room to be extended and we could hire it out for parties."

Sookie smiled as she stayed out of sight in the corridor. It seemed that not only were her two friends happy with their promotions, they had been inspired by her ideas. She walked out the rear entrance and looked to the sky.

"I hope yer okay with this Sam. I only wish ye were here to see it."

"Talkin' to yourself?" Sookie spun round and came face to face with one of the wolves from the night before, she pulled back her arm ready to strike out but the Were held up his hands and stepped back. "Whoa! No need for violence doll!"

"Really? Did ye say the same last night when my friends were bein' brutalised? What do ye want?"

"I got a call from Deidre Merlotte, she asked me to come out and quote her for making some changes here."

"I see. Can I have yer name?"

"Alcide Herveaux, and if I remember correctly you're Sookie Stackhouse." Sookie nodded. "Deidre gave me your name but I didn't make the connection until I saw you. So, since you're the manager and apparently this is all your idea, why don't you tell me what changes you wanted?"

"Sure."

Sookie was wary as she walked Alcide around the area, pointing out where she wanted fencing and paving and explaining where the back door was going to be moved to. Alcide made notes and chewed on the end of his pen while she spoke. Sookie took him back to her office to show him the products she'd seen online that she thought would be perfect for the project. Once Alcide had taken more notes, she brought him out to the bar and introduced him to Arlene and Lafayette before walking him back out to his truck.

"So, I know it's doable but is it affordable?"

Alcide nodded. "Deidre gave me a ball park figure that she'd like it to come to, it'll be more than that but I'm sure she won't mind."

Sookie smiled at him. "Really? I think she would mind. And I think we'll get everything done for exactly that ball park figure. Your pack is responsible for a blood offense on two people I consider family, I'm sure you could even push the price down a bit lower."

"Whoa there lady! I get that you're pissed off but I don't think you understand how things work."

"I grew up with a pack, don't patronise me. I know what I'm entitled to, so get things moving."

Without giving Alcide a chance to respond Sookie walked off back to the bar and swapped out with Lafayette so he could take a break.

~v~

Jackie woke up from her nap and went through to the kitchen. She cleaned every surface, even inside the oven and the fridge. She'd never felt better but no matter how hard she scrubbed she still felt restless and unsatisfied. Checking the time she thought maybe she was hungry and made a large lunch for herself. She had just started eating when there was a knock at the door. Jackie knew it was Hoyt by scent and found herself salivating with another kind of hunger.

Hoyt shifted from foot to foot on the porch, smiling when the door opened but finding himself quickly pulled inside and thrown on the floor. Jackie hovered over him and his eyes widened as she straddled him and covered his mouth with her own. Fuelled by their own desires and the infusion of Longshadow's blood, they gave themselves over to carnal needs. There were no words spoken, the silence of the farmhouse was only broken by moans of passion and the sound of flesh on flesh as Jackie and Hoyt succumbed to their animal instincts.

~v~

Sookie waved goodbye to Arlene and Lafayette as they finished their shift, longing to go home at the same time and take a very much needed nap. She knew she looked awful, her eyes had dark circles around them from lack of sleep and she noticed her shorts were a little loose. The Telepath frowned and tried to remember the last time she had three square meals in a day. She went to the shelves behind the bar and opened a large bag of chips, munching on them between customers at the bar and wishing she hadn't taken home the box of treats Bobby brought over the day before. A sugar rush would have been quite welcome at that moment.

"Penny for them."

Sookie looked up to find Eric in front of her and wondered where the day had gone. "Hi Eric. I can't leave the bar right now, I'm the only one here licensed to tend, so you'll need to wait a while to speak to me."

"Well, I would like the record to show that I'm here at 8pm, well before 10pm, and you still owe me. I will return later."

The Telepath nodded. "That's cool."

Eric watched as she went to the other end of the bar. She looked drawn and obviously hadn't slept well recently. He remembered what she said about the amount of hours she worked and wondered when the last time she had a day off was. The Vampire stopped and mentally slapped himself. He shouldn't be concerned with whether Sookie had time to relax. He shouldn't really be concerned about her full stop. But he was and he couldn't help himself. Slowly but surely, Sookie was getting under Eric's skin and she had no idea how different she was from the other women he was surrounded by.

~v~

It was an hour before closing time when Hoyt and Jackie came into Merlotte's and Sookie raised an eyebrow when she noticed their flushed cheeks and Hoyt's rumpled clothing. The Telepath noticed Eric walk in behind them and raise his head to take a deep sniff of the air before he started chuckling.

"You see what you're missing out on by denying your desires Sookie?"

Sookie narrowed her eyes at him and went to see if the young couple wanted something to drink. When she next got close to him the vampire caught her attention.

"Sookie, do you have any Trueblood?"

The entire bar stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Eric. Sookie closed her eyes and Eric swore he could see her lips move as she counted to ten. When she opened her eyes again she leaned in close to Eric across the bar.

"I'm sorry, Eric, we don't. Why don't ye go and wait in my office?"

Eric looked at the patrons of the bar, some had stood up and he could hear others muttering about how if Vampires knew what was good for them they wouldn't show their faces in a good place like Merlotte's. Every instinct screamed at him to extend his fangs and show the humans who was in charge but he stopped himself. He knew that would only make trouble for Sookie. Instead he stood from the bar stool and held his arms out to the side.

"I mean you no harm. I know you have had ... problems with a previous Vampire who came here but we are as different from each other as you are. I ask that you don't judge me by that other Vampires behaviour. I have great respect for Sookie and I know many of you do too. So, in that, we have something in common."

Sookie watched with interest as some of the customers sat down again but a couple came closer to Eric with anger in their eyes and violence in their hearts. She walked out from behind the bar and stood in front of Eric, staring at the two who approached him.

"Sit back doon or leave, guys."

"He don't belong here Sookie. We started comin' to this bar because it ain't vamp friendly and now you of all people want to start treatin' 'em like they're normal or somethin'?"

Sookie recognised one of them as Whit, he only first came in to Merlotte's a couple of weeks back but Sookie could read from him that he'd hoped she would let him use the bar to recruit members for the Fellowship of the Sun seeing as she had killed a Vampire herself.

"Well, Eric has proven to me that no all Vampires will kill ye as soon as look at ye. I've let go o' the hate and you should too. There will be no violence or hate in this bar. This isnae the place for you Whit." She stayed in the same spot until Whit and his friend had walked out of the door. "If anybody else has a problem with payin' customers of whatever species walk out now or haud yer tongue."

Satisfied that the two Fellowship goons were the only ones that really had a problem with Eric, Sookie nodded to the Vampire as he sat back down and promised him she'd order some Trueblood to come in with the next delivery.

~v~

Whit Spradlin and Danny Boling sat in Whit's truck, seething that they'd been turned out of Merlotte's because of a Vampire. They'd already called for back-up, an hour at the most and they'd be able to get this show on the road. No-one messed with the Fellowship and soon that big blond vamper and the bimbo bar manager would know all about it.

~v~

There were very few customers left but Sookie couldn't wait for everyone to leave and begin closing down the bar. She remembered she was opening the next day and almost sobbed with exhaustion. Soon Hoyt was leaving with Jackie. Probably for more sex, Sookie thought bitterly and the only the Telepath and the Vampire were left.

"Shall I help you count the take? It will be quicker." Eric offered.

"If you like." Sookie shrugged. "I suppose the quicker I'm done with this the sooner you can tell me what you want from me."

"You catch on far too quickly Sookie." Eric smiled at her.

The close down was finished in less than half the time it usually took and Sookie poured herself a shot of whiskey in preparation for Eric's demands. It was strange to her, drinking when someone was there. She always had to wait until she was alone before, in case her mental shield failed, but with Eric she didn't need to have it up in the first place. They sat at a booth across from each other and Sookie spread her hands palm down on the table.

"So, what's it to be? Free reading? Blood? Don't say sex, because you know how I'll react." She smirked at him and he barked out a laugh.

"You."

"Me what?"

"I've been thinking about your safety and that you are in debt to me. You will let me claim you as mine."

"Right, I'm tryin' to stay calm here but claimin' is a possession thing an I have no intention of bein' anybody's possession." Sookie drummed her fingertips on the wooden surface and tried to contain her anger.

"If I claim you, then no other Vampire can. It will keep you safe and it will also explain your presence when you do Telepathy work for me."

Sookie calmed a little but not completely. "And what do you get out of it?"

"You. Your blood and, when you're sick of fighting the chemistry between us, your body."

The Telepath sighed and rubbed at her temples. She was tired of everything, both physically and mentally. Eric felt her fatigue and for the smallest of moments, regretted backing her into a corner. He wanted her to be his by her own choosing but he also wanted her to be safe.

"If it makes it more appealing, I will provide you with a disguise so your shame can be hidden behind a pseudonym." The Vampire grinned and Sookie laughed lightly.

"Actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea. You know if I say 'yes', I'll be on the internet searching for a way to renounce it if you piss me off right?" Eric nodded. "Okay then."

Sookie extended her right hand and Eric looked at it for a second before clasping it in his own and shaking it twice before letting go.

"I'd like to arrange a meeting with my accountant and other business associates for my free reading; can you ensure your availability when I have a date?"

"I make the rotas so yeah."

Sookie fished the keys to the bar from her pocket and held the door open for Eric while casting her ability out to make sure there weren't any surprises waiting for her. A habit she'd gotten into in the last few weeks. As the Vampire made to step outside the building she put her hand on his chest.

"Changed your mind about the physical side so soon?" Eric smirked.

"Shh!" The Vampire watched Sookie's eyes dart from left to right. "Six humans, it's an ambush for you ... and me, fellowship scum going by what I can hear."

"Wait here."

Eric's fangs ran out as he ran toward the group but he was caught out by two of them that threw a silver net from their position in a tree above him. The Vampire roared in anger as the net seared any exposed flesh and weakened him. His hands clawed at the burning wires as Whit and Danny descended on him with baseball bats. Sookie watched as they beat Eric while another two stood ready with stakes and the last two hollered encouragement from the tree. As quick as she could, she ran to the bar and got small knife they kept there for slicing lemons and limes. She made the mistake of not keeping tabs on the mob with her Telepathy, and when she got back to the door she was met with a fist to the stomach.

She doubled over as the breath went out of her and dropped the knife but instead of trying to stand back up she rolled to the ground and kicked upwards, catching her attacker on the chin with her heavy boots. He fell back and Sookie turned her head toward the lower half of his body. Noticing he had chosen to wear shorts, she simply lunged for his leg and sank her teeth in as hard as she could. He screamed in pain and the Telepath scrambled franticly for the weapon, her hurried movements making it skitter further away from her. Finally it was in her hand and she swung round catching the Fellowship goon on the arm. He half jumped, half fell on top of her, holding down her arm that held the knife and pulling back to punch her with the other. Using all of her strength, she lifted her legs and attempted a backwards roll, tipping the assailant on to the dirt and using his momentum to reverse their positions.

She held the knife to his throat and reached for a nearby rock with her free hand. His eyes widened in fear, they hadn't accounted for the fact that the woman might be just as hard to kill as the Vampire. He squeezed his eyes closed as Sookie raised the rock and slammed it down on his skull, knocking him into unconsciousness and leaving five enemies to beat.

"No yer best plan ya fanny."

Eric fought to get out of the silver net harder than ever when he saw that Sookie was being attacked, throwing his human attackers away from him with as much force as he could muster. Finally one of his legs was untangled; it would only be a few minutes until the rest of him was as well. And the Fellowship attackers knew it. They scrambled for their stakes in vain, unable to pin Eric down to send him to his final death. The Vampire saw Sookie heading for the group and snarled and thrashed to keep their attention on him.

Sookie ducked down and ran full tilt toward Whit, skidding across the dirt and slashing at his Achilles tendon with the knife. Whit fell hard, rolling on the ground in agony screaming. The Telepath grabbed at the bat he dropped and swung it at Danny, smashing his kneecap from her low position.

"Three little piggies." She grinned holding the bat over her shoulder, ready to strike.

The Vampire threw the net away and positioned himself at the other side of the three remaining Fellowship thugs. They backed away from Sookie and Eric, letting their weapons fall to the ground.

"Oh ye like it bare knuckle eh? Fair enough." Sookie dropped the bat and crouched down with her elbows tight to her body and her hands curled into fists. "Square go pal, whenever yer ready."

Eric simply growled and flashed his fangs. He sniffed at the air, it was heavy with sweat and blood and violence. The scent of urine filled his nostrils as one of the assailants wet his pants in fear; Eric simply laughed at him and jerked in his direction. The man screamed and ran away, tripping over tree roots as he made his escape. Eric moved to where Sookie moved slowly from side to side, his back was to hers and he adopted his own fighting position. He could kill them both now, so easily, but playing with them was so much more fun.

"Two against two, but since my lady friend here has already dispatched three of you, how do you really think you'll fare against us?"

Eric grin matched Sookie's as the men tried to intimidate them, moving in a circle with the Telepath and the Vampire in the centre. They failed to comprehend that delaying their attack would only make things worse. The longer they took to strike, the stronger Eric was and the more time between attacks gave Sookie more time to get her breath and energy back. Sookie listened in on the men, both were thinking the same thing, both were waiting on the other to make a move.

"Fuck this fur a game o' soldiers."

Sookie rushed at one, pulling her leg back as he pulled back his fist to hit her. Eric grabbed at the other and held him in the air by the back of his neck. Sookie's steel toe-cap boot buried itself between the man's legs, his fist fell and his eyes almost popped out of the sockets. Eric and the man he held both winced and instinctively placed their free hands over their crotches. Before her opponent could fall to the ground, Sookie grabbed at his hair and smashed his face against her knee. She pushed him away from her, panting as he curled in a ball at her feet.

Eric laughed and carried the last attacker to the truck parked in the trees, throwing him in the driver's seat. "Stay there or die."

The man whimpered and nodded and watched through the windscreen as the Vampire gathered up his four friends, where the escapee had gotten to he didn't know or care, and dumped them in the bed before banging the side of his door.

"You might want to take them to a hospital."

The man nodded and started the truck with shaking hands, peeling out of the parking lot and leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Eric rushed to where Sookie was inspecting herself for injuries and grabbed her face in his hands.

"Scrappy little thing aren't you?"

Sookie smiled then punched him in the face before yelping and holding her hand, she'd think twice before punching a Vampire again. Eric put his hand to his nose, bristling with anger and confusion.

"What was that for?"

"Ye could have taken them a' oot but ye didnae! Nae bother pal, I'll do a' the hard work eh?"

Eric grinned at her. "To be honest watching you brawl is a major turn-on."

"Oh aye?" Sookie stepped close to him, so close you couldn't have slid a piece of paper between her chest and his.

"Aye!" Eric mocked Sookie's accent, revelling in the red blush of anger that coloured her cheeks.

"Aye?"

"Aye!"

It was impossible to tell who was shocked more when Sookie grabbed Eric's neck and pressed her mouth against his, but Eric recovered first and swept his tongue over Sookie's bottom lip. She opened her mouth without reservation and moaned as the kiss deepened and they duelled for dominance. Determined not to waste the opportunity, Eric picked Sookie up and her legs automatically wrapped themselves around his waist.

She arched her back, grinding her heated sex into the hard bulge of Eric's arousal. The Vampire broke the kiss and hissed in pleasure, carrying Sookie to the closest car and setting her on the hood. The Telepath grabbed at his long blond hair as his lips moved to her neck, nibbling and licking at the juncture of her shoulder.

"It's been too fuckin' long." Sookie panted as she pulled Eric's mouth back to hers.

A squeak erupted from Sookie's lips as something vibrated against the top of her thigh. It reverberated through her shorts to her sensitive folds, making her shiver with excitement. When Eric pulled away to dig the phone from his pocket, she jumped from the car and kicked at the dirt screaming.

"Fuckin' cunt hole bitch!"

"_What crawled up Sookie's ass and died?"_

"Pam, not now. Why are you calling?"

"_Hot Rain has appeared; he's demanding restitution for Longshadow's final death."_

Eric ended the call and stuffed his phone back in his pocket violently. "I am required at Fangtasia."

Despite her anger and frustration, Sookie nodded and managed to squeak out a cordial 'okay' in response before walking over to lock up Merlotte's and finally going home to rest. Eric opened the tie on the flight back to Shreveport, cursing Hot Rain and Longshadow with every mile he travelled as he felt Sookie pleasuring herself.


	8. Scots Wahay!

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that Vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to C. Harris.

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

Jackie, while in a fantastic mood herself, stayed clear of Sookie before she left for work. The Telepath seemed more snappish and on edge than usual and despite being able to take her in a fight both physically and verbally, Jackie didn't want to confront her friend about her foul mood. The Were-Witch put it down to last night's attack by the Fellowship and all of the events that preceded it.

Sookie felt awful for making her friend walk on eggshells like she was and left the house long before she was due at Merlotte's. Gunning the engine in the Buick and putting a CD full of heavy rock in the stereo, she drove. She had no destination in mind; she just wanted to drive and try to clear her head. But no matter how fast she went or how hard she pushed the Buick, she couldn't outrun her own feelings. Screeching to a halt outside her bar, she laid her head on the steering wheel and spoke to her ovaries.

"Ye's might have won the battle but I'll win the war."

Getting out of the car and slamming the door much harder than she should have, she entered her office an hour before she was due to be there and scoured the internet for some new clothes. She couldn't carry on like this; Sookie decided she was just going to have to fuck Eric Northman out of her system.

~v~

Arlene was stacking clean glasses under the bar when she heard Sookie's office door open and close. It was fairly quiet so she went out the front and, sure enough, there was Adele's Buick. The red-head wondered why Sookie had used the back door and, also, why she was here well before she was supposed to be. It wasn't long before the boss made her way out to the main bar and joined Arlene behind the polished wood counter.

"Mornin' boss. You're here early."

Sookie nodded. "Yeah, got a lot on my mind."

"Well, I got some gossip if it'll distract ya?"

"Sure." Sookie chuckled; Arlene could never help herself from spreading the latest scandals.

"Those two guys that caused a scene last night, Whit and Danny, well they're in the hospital. Word is a vampire attacked them. Do you think it could have been that big blond Vamp that was here?"

"Eric was with me last night, it wisnae him. What kind o' injuries do they have?"

"Mostly bumps and bruises, cracks and cuts but one of them had both his balls ruptured!"

Sookie nodded and turned to look Arlene in the eye. "Do they sound like the kind o' injuries a Vampire would inflict? To me, it sounds like they got intae a brawl with some other humans."

The Telepath could see Arlene thinking about her statement. It was five minutes before the red-head came back with an answer.

"Why would they say it was a Vampire when it wasn't? I know those guys hate the Vamps, I don't got a lot of love for them myself, but telling stupid lies just makes 'em look ... stupid."

"Aye that it does. Besides ye know what these types are like, first there's a couple then there's a dozen o' them growlin' at the rest o' the customers. We don't need folks like that in here. We want to be seen as a fun, friendly place where everybody is welcome."

Arlene nodded and searched the bar before standing with her hands on her hips and huffing. "Sookie, have you seen the lemon knife?"

~v~

Adele followed Betty up and down the aisles of the supermarket. She marvelled at how different the foods were and had to stop herself from throwing everything in the cart (or 'Trolley' as Betty called it) so she could try new things. Betty's mobile phone rang out in her handbag, and Adele wandered toward the biscuit section to give her friend privacy. When the section contained cookies and not biscuits as she knew them, she returned to where she'd left Betty.

"Ah! Adele, there ye are! That was Jim on the blower; ye had a call fae some Billy person at the hoose."

"Oh my! He asked for a number and ... well I don't have a cell phone. I didn't think you would mind, seeing as I'll be here for a long while."

"No a problem hen, he's left his number so ye can call him back."

Betty winked at Adele and for the first time in decades, the American felt flustered but at the same time she couldn't wait to tell Sookie that she had made a new friend.

~v~

Jackie entered Merlotte's with Hoyt in tow and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sookie laughing and smiling behind the bar. She waved to her friend as they were led to a booth so they could have lunch. Sookie took their drink order from Danielle and went to the table with the beer and coffee herself.

"Hiya Jackie. I'm really sorry about this mornin'."

"It's no bother, Sookie; I know it's been tough these last couple o' weeks."

Sookie nodded as Hoyt looked confused. "What's up Sook? Have you been gettin' hassle from someone?"

"Naw, naw, Hoyt. Just ... uh ... man trouble. Y'know, girl stuff."

Pleased that her ambiguous answer had satisfied Hoyt's curiosity, she went on to tell Jackie about the phone call she'd had from her Gran not long before she got there. Jackie hooted with laughter when she heard about Adele's new man but suddenly stopped as a realisation came to her.

"Hey, didn't you say that Eric's ... assistant was from Glasgow and was called Burnham too?"

Sookie nodded and shrugged. "Burnham isnae a rare name, I doubt Bobby and Billy are related. And even if they are, what difference will it make?"

"True." Jackie nodded.

Sookie went back to her post behind the bar. The lunchtime rush was in full swing and the staff were rushed off their feet, it didn't help that Sookie kept being interrupted by the phone at the bar. She mentally kicked herself for not specifying certain times for people to call about the jobs available, but when things calmed down and she looked at the scribbles in her diary, she was pleased to find she had lined up four interviews for the next day.

She worked on the website a little more during the quiet spells and spent some time on the phone to Deirdre Merlotte discussing the plans she had for the bar. Sookie tried to suppress her smile as Deirdre told her about the amazing quote she got from Alcide and that since it was going to cost less than she thought, they might as well put in a Jungle Gym for the family area. The Telepath agreed that it was a great idea but excused herself from the call to go and deal with the dinnertime crowd.

Just before sunset, Sookie sent a text to Eric to let him know that the goons were blaming a Vampire for their injuries and to check they were still having their 'social call' the next night. Merlotte's was busy right up until closing and when Sookie finally locked the doors and pulled up outside her house, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally – a whole day without anything bad happening to her!

~v~

The same couldn't be said for Eric. When he returned to Fangtasia the previous night, he was forced to sit through Hot Rain's banal speech about how close he was to his child, Longshadow. Despite being told that Longshadow had been sentenced by his elder and Sherriff for the crimes of theft and attempting to disguise his actions by glamouring employees of that same elder and Sherriff, Hot Rain was adamant that he be recompensed for the loss.

The Native American's calls for Eric's child, Pam to be indentured to him for a period of ten years was scoffed at, as was his demand for $100,000. Fortunately, Thalia was adept at compiling the necessary paperwork to support a valid sentencing. Hot Rain was enraged at the fact that it was signed by witnesses and had already been filed with the State monarch.

Tonight hadn't been much better. Eric's foul mood at his successful advance on Sookie being interrupted by such an entitled and demanding Vampire was heading into dangerous territory. The only respite for the customers and workers at Fangtasia was when he received Sookie's text and smiled briefly before Hot Rain made another appearance at the bar. Growling, Eric went to his office and sat behind his desk. When Hot Rain breezed in, happy in the knowledge that he was irritating the Sherriff, he perched on the worn sofa and picked at non-existent lint on his trousers.

"I have another proposal for you Eric."

"Sherriff Northman." Eric corrected. "And whatever proposal you have will be rejected. Just like the last one."

Hot Rain simply smiled and relaxed into the couch. "$10,000."

"I really don't have time for this. You are entitled to nothing, you will receive nothing. You are hereby banned from Area Five, if you show up here again you will be arrested and charged with trespass. Leave, now."

"Very well, Sherriff, but know this – I will be watching. And when I find something you care for as deeply as I cared for my Longshadow, you will suffer as I am now."

"I care for no-one but my child and if anything happens to her I will hunt you down and my retribution will be swift and harsh and I will be entitled to it."

Hot Rain gave a final growl before leaving Fangtasia and Eric immediately warned Pam of the threats made. He had little concern, Pam was an exceptional fighter and very capable of taking care of herself. As long as she knew there was a threat, she would be prepared for any eventuality. They sat in his booth, scowling at the Fangbangers who dared to approach them.

"Eric, are you still going on your date with Sookie tomorrow night?"

"It's not a date, Pam, but yes I am."

"Do you think it's wise to see her when you're so ... worked up? When was the last time you indulged?"

"A couple of nights ago." Eric shrugged. "You know I don't need to feed every evening but I get your point. Is there anything worth my attention here tonight?"

Pam grimaced. "The usual vermin, begging to be bitten, it's just not the same without the thrill of the chase."

Eric nodded and scanned the bar. His eyes immediately went to a head full of blonde hair and his interest piqued. But when the human turned around she bore very little resemblance to Sookie. He blinked and shook his head in disbelief of what he had just thought. Determined to prove to himself that he saw the Telepath as nothing more than a tool with added benefits, he beckoned to the blonde. Pam was quite correct that it was unwise to visit Sookie while he was so on edge, one more refusal from her might cause him to do something that would send her out of his grasp completely.

"You wanna have some fun big guy?"

Eric tried not to grimace at the fact that she sounded like a street walker propositioning a John. Plastering a smile on his face instead and gesturing that she should follow him to his office. He held open the door as she confidently sashayed inside and started unfastening the clips at the front of her corset. Eric smiled as he closed the door; she was out of her tiny skirt as he clicked the lock and stood before him wearing only a pair of patent black stilettos. He could tell from her pubic hair that she wasn't a natural blonde and as she sat down on the sofa and spread her legs, the scent of her arousal made his nose twitch.

"I'm ready for you, Master."

A small part of him wanted to tell her to get dressed, to have some pride, some self respect but he pushed it to the side and pulled off his t-shirt. Eric smirked as her eyes glazed over when she took in his toned chest then the prominent bulge in his jeans. She licked her lips and leaned forward.

"Where do you want me?"

"Use your initiative."

Eric refrained from rolling his eyes as a look of confusion appeared on her face. She soon recovered and came off the couch to kneel before him, pulling his jeans down over his hips to release his erection from its confines. The Vampire watched as the Fangbanger eagerly attempted to please him but it felt ... all wrong.

"Stop that. Do something that pleases _you_."

"Oh this _does_ please me! I love sucking on your big dick!"

This time Eric really did roll his eyes. "Show some fire woman! Disarm me with your body and all the delights it holds!"

The Fangbanger stood up and stepped away from him. "Look, I don't know what kind of kinky stuff you're into but I've never had any complaints from the other Vamps that I've serviced!"

Eric pulled up his jeans and slumped into his chair. "You obviously don't understand what I need so just leave."

"But ... I can _be_ whatever you want! You just have to tell me!"

"Yes, you've just proven my point. Leave me be."

Eric ignored her muttering and huffing as she replaced her clothing and sent Pam a text so Ginger would bring him a bottle of Trueblood. At the current rate, he would have to get used to solely drinking from a bottle. Ginger arrived moments later and placed the bottle on his desk, licking her lips when she noticed his bare chest and open pants.

"Are you sure you want that master?" She rubbed subconsciously at her neck.

"Yes, Ginger. That will be all."

He let his head roll back on his shoulders and spun from side to side on the chair absent-mindedly. His thoughts went to Sookie, no matter how hard he tried to think of other things. Her soft curves and demanding lips, her passion and vivaciousness, she challenged him and inspired him. Eric decided that perhaps he should take a leaf out of Sookie's book and stroked himself lightly as he remembered their encounter the night before.

By the time Pam reached the door to Eric's office and opened it, his imagination had Sookie in a number of positions and his hand was moving fast and hard as he gripped his shaft and ground his teeth. She watched open-mouthed as she discovered her maker masturbating in his chair, stepping out and closing the door tightly behind her. Privacy was something she held no value in and frequently walked in on him fucking and feeding ... but this was different. She knew there was only one person to blame for this shift in Eric's behaviour. Pam hoped, for Sookie's sake, that this phase passed quickly and quietly, otherwise she would have to take matters into her own hands. And they wouldn't be down her panties.

~v~

Sookie awoke the next day with a sense of direction she hadn't felt for a while. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't swimming in a sea of doubt. She happily made breakfast for herself and Jackie and greeted the day with a smile. Her morning at work was spent on tenterhooks until the courier showed up with her parcel. Lafayette raised an eyebrow as he watched her bounce on the balls of her feet as she signed for the package.

"Whatcha got there sugahplum?"

"A new outfit." Sookie's eyes shone with excitement as she ripped the box open and pulled out a stunning deep purple spaghetti strap dress. "What do ye think?"

"Who's the lucky guy?" Lafayette chuckled then stopped, walking over to Sookie and looking her straight in the eye. "It's that Eric dude, right?"

Sookie shrugged. "Maybes aye, maybes naw, maybes maybes"*

Laffy shook his head. "Look, girl, I don't blame you none for itchin' ta tap that but ... you knows what ah'm tryin' ta put down yeah?"

The Telepath nodded and placed the dress back in the box. "We've ... well _I've _been playin' hard to get. He's tough to resist, Laffy, and I think I've done a good job of it but there comes a time when ye need to say 'enough is enough' and just screw them til ye cannae walk."

"Oh that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!" He laughed heartily and held up his hand for a high five.

Sookie obliged and took her delivery back to the office. It remained slow and steady until lunchtime, which gave her more of a chance to perfect the website she had been working on. She took her digital camera out of the desk drawer and went out to the main bar to snap some photos for the finishing touch. Fortunately, all of the workers and customers were very happy for their pictures to be included on the site and some of the regulars asked her to let them know as soon as it went live so they could leave messages of recommendation on it.

The interviews went smoothly, thanks to Sookie's telepathy and by mid-afternoon, Merlotte's had a new busboy and a new waitress in the ranks. She stood behind the bar and watched the hustle and bustle. Everything was coming together now, it had been rocky at first with the way Sam died and the hate that followed, but now she could really envision how she wanted Merlotte's to be.

(*Well known Kenny Dalgleish quote)

Jackie sighed contentedly as Hoyt trailed circles on her upper arm. He had come to Sookie's house for lunch and, the same as every other time, things went far beyond eating sandwiches. Suddenly, Jackie remembered what Sookie had planned for the evening and jerked upright in Hoyt's arms.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

"Uh ... I don't think my Momma would appreciate that."

"We don't need to stay at yer house; we could go to one o' they motels ye see on the telly."

"The nearest _nice_ motel is in Shreveport. Why don't you wanna stay here?"

"Sookie has a ... friend comin' over and I just want to gie her some privacy. Rather than stayin' in a motel on my own, I thought ye'd like to join me."

Hoyt nodded, it sure sounded good, a whole night, just him and Jackie. "Sure thing. I'll go home and pack an overnight bag as soon as I the feelin' comes back to my legs and come back to pick you up."

"There's no hurry."

They kissed lazily, they had all day and now they had all night. Hoyt slid his hand under the pillow for another condom, bringing the box out and shaking it. The last one fell into his palm and Hoyt looked at it, shocked that they'd gone through a whole dozen in only a few days. His chest puffed with pride. No longer would he be known as 'the poor man' of the group when it came to the ways of women. He made a mental note to buy more condoms and to ask Jason how fast he would have been able to work through a dozen.

~v~

Lafayette and Arlene sniggered behind Sookie's back. Their boss was like a cat on a hot tin roof, she just couldn't keep still for a second. Eventually, once the dinner rush eased off, they told her to just go home early and get ready for her visitor. Sookie tried not to squeal in happiness as she realised she would now have plenty of time to wash, de-fuzz and get into her new dress and lingerie.

Sookie remembered the first time she seduced Sam. She had quietly gone in the back door of the bar, minutes before closing, and waited for him in his office – naked as the day she was born. He had been unable to resist her.

She ran a bath and read the note that Jackie had left her, smiling at her friend's thoughtfulness. Then she remembered how her pervious encounter with Eric had been rudely interrupted. Sookie pulled out her cell phone and turned it off, turned the ringer off on the landline and sank into the bubbles.

~v~

Eric sat in his Corvette and tapped into his tie with Sookie, it was starting to wane but he could feel resolution and strength. He put his head against the steering wheel and groaned, wondering if she would ever give in to her desire for him.

"What does a man have to do to get past this woman's chastity belt?" He muttered to himself.

Sighing unnecessarily, he got out of the car and slowly climbed the steps of the porch. Before he could even knock on the door it was opened. Eric's mouth gaped as Sookie stood before him, her hair piled high on her head and her body encased in a dress so snug, every curve was available for his perusal.

"Come in Mr. Northman."

She stepped back from the doorway and he put one foot over the threshold, taking in the tidy house and the soft music coming from a stereo in the corner. "Don't mind if I do. Did you have plans for later? That's a very ... fancy dress."

Sookie walked across the living room, her high heels click-clacking against the wooden boards. She sat on the couch, one arm draped across the back and the other supporting her weight on the armrest behind her. The Telepath slowly crossed, uncrossed and then re-crossed her shapely legs.

"I like to make myself presentable for visitors." She purred.

"Is that so?" Eric licked his lips and sat at the opposite end of the sofa, smiling when he saw Sookie glance at his crotch. "See something you like?"

Sookie giggled and realised Eric thought she was checking out the goods. "Oh I'm not lookin' at yer cock, just rememberin' ye keep yer phone in yer pocket."

Eric smirked and removed the gadget from his jeans, turning it off. "You have a dirty mouth Miss. Stackhouse."

The Telepath leaned forward; well aware of how much of her bosom was spilling out of the dress as she did so. "Does that bother you?"

"No." Eric gazed at Sookie's exposed cleavage before flicking his eyes to hers challengingly. "It makes me wonder how dirty you are in other areas."

"And how would you find out if your imagination was up to par?"

"Experimentation of course, that is _always_ the best way!"

The Vampire was amazed as he watched the Telepath edge closer and closer to him, ensuring she was arching her back in the right way to make her body look irresistible. If he'd had the slightest inkling that he would be walking into a full blown seduction scene, he would have ensured he brought a camcorder. Sookie could certainly show the amateurs that frequented his bar a thing or two. His fingers itched to reach out and stroke her smooth skin as he tried to remember the last time he was seduced in such a way.

Sookie was close enough now that she could stretch out her arm and 'walk' her fingers up Eric's leg. "Well, I'm all for conducting experiments."

Eric almost groaned as Sookie's little pink tongue darted out and wet her plump red lips. Her fingers grazed dangerously close to his rigid sex. The Vampire closed his eyes and calmed himself. If it was seduction she wanted, seduction she would get. He leaned in close to Sookie, running his hand from her wrist to her shoulder and cupping the back of her head. He continued to move forward until Sookie was almost lying on the couch. Eric could hear her heart beat speed up in anticipation and ran his nose along her neck, inhaling deeply before reaching out with his free hand and grabbing the stereo remote from the coffee table. He pulled back as he increased the volume and Sookie frowned, taking the remote from him and pressing buttons until she found what she wanted. The soft chords of the Kings of Convenience filled the room; 'Singing softly to me' was one of Sookie's favourite songs. Eric took the opportunity and stood from the couch, holding out his hand to the Telepath.

"Dance with me."

Eric nudged the coffee table out of the way and pulled Sookie to his chest. They swayed to the music at first, simply holding each other. But it wasn't long before their hands started to roam. The heels on Sookie's shoes brought the top of her head close to Eric's nose and he revelled in her sweet scent. Her left hand stroked at his shoulder while her right played with the waistband of his jeans, Sookie leaned closer and brushed her lips against Eric's neck.

"Is dancin' part of your experimentation?"

"Not this kind of dancing, no."

Eric stroked up and down Sookie's sides, brushing his thumbs against the outside of her breasts. He could feel her nipples harden against him and his chest rumbled in pleasure. Sookie swayed her hips gently, feeling Eric's arousal press into her stomach.

"Would you prefer a different kind of dancing?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Sookie turned and picked up the remote again, and found the perfect track. 'Auto Pilot' by Queens of the Stone Age came through the speakers and Sookie moulded herself against Eric once again. He reached down and slid his hand up her thigh, pushing her dress up before hitching her leg over his hip and squeezing at her ass to lift and hold her in place. Sookie's breath hitched as her centre was pulled firmly against the hard bulge in Eric's jeans. He moved the top half of Sookie's body down and up as the beat captured them in moment.

_I wanna fly, I wanna ride with you._

Eric's hips moved slowly, creating delicious friction over Sookie's sensitive bundle of nerves. She moaned as he dipped his head and kissed along her collar bone. They moved more intently as the song continued and their bodies entwined.

Hips grinding together, they dipped and swayed, one of Sookie's hands on Eric's belt buckle – pulling him against her harder as her other hand pulled at his hair. When their lips met it was passionate but fleeting.

As quickly as Eric had lifted her, he let go of her leg and spun her round. She arched into him as the stark evidence of his enjoyment nudged against the small of her back. Sookie felt Eric move down behind her, his hands running down her legs to her ankles and back up to her hips, bringing her dress up with them.

The Vampire groaned as his hand dipped between Sookie's hot thighs and found her lacy panties damp with need. Sookie reached up and pulled Eric down, covering his mouth with hers and sweeping her warm tongue against his cool one. Eric growled into Sookie's mouth as her free hand travelled behind her and rubbed his straining erection firmly.

"It feels like yer ready for further experimentation Mr. Northman. Follow me."

Sookie turned around and walked backwards, pulling Eric toward her bedroom by the buckle of his belt. For a moment she was concerned that her queen size bed wouldn't be adequate but was glad she had upgraded from the single bed she had before she met Sam. Eric's fangs ached, he had become far too used to women that were sexually submissive, the sense of equality he had with Sookie was exciting.

He let her take charge, for now, and allowed himself to be pushed onto the bed. Eric watched Sookie's creamy globes jiggle as she untied his laces and removed his boots and socks before crawling up the bed. Her hands ran up his body, pulling his shirt from his jeans and up underneath, caressing his chest before she straddled his thighs and licked at the exposed skin.

"Off."

Eric was all too happy to comply with her demands and pulled the fabric from his body, ripping the neck in the process, and tossing it to one side. Sookie kissed a trail up to one of his nipples, laving it with her tongue and drawing her teeth across it lightly. Eric hissed and grabbed a handful of her hair, making some of the soft tendrils fall out.

"Bite a little."

A drawn out 'ah' emitted from his lips as she nipped at him, smiling against his skin at his reaction. She yanked at his belt and unfastened his jeans, palming his stiff cock as it stood proud between them. Eric sat up abruptly, pulling Sookie's mouth to his in a feverish kiss as he massaged her taut thighs and pulled the clips from her hair. Both of his hands threaded through her falling tresses, his blunt nails scratching at her scalp and sending a shiver through her body.

Slowly Eric moved his hands south, slipping the straps of her dress off her shoulders and electrifying the skin on Sookie's neck with his lips. Soon the dress was bunched around Sookie's waist and Eric's attention focussed on removing her bra and paying homage to her mounds as they were released from their confines.

"Sookie, you have the most beautiful breasts I've ever seen."

"Mmhmm, I've always liked them."

He chuckled and captured a rosy peak between his lips, sucking lightly and closing his eyes as Sookie gasped and moved her hips against him. Eric squeezed at her rump with both hands and flipped them over, grinding his arousal against her. He sat back and moved one of her legs to take off her dress, leaving her wearing only panties and her shoes. Eric positioned Sookie with her behind on the edge of the mattress and knelt on the floor; he gently took off her heels and slid his hands firmly up to her hips. Small, soft kisses were placed on her abdomen as his fingers hooked into her underwear, removing the last barrier to her heated core.

Sookie propped herself up on her elbows and spread her legs, her eyes were heavy with lust as she watched Eric move his mouth closer and closer until, finally, his tongue swept over her bundle of nerves. He greedily feasted on her, sucking and licking, revelling in her scent and taste before sliding two fingers inside her easily. His thumb replaced his tongue on her clit and Eric sat back on his heels to watch her bucking her hips against his hand.

"Lover, you're so wet for me."

He kissed up her body to suckle on her breasts as he continued to work her with his hand, her breathing picked up and small gasps and moans punctuated her exhalations. Sookie's fingers wound into Eric's hair as he went back to her succulent folds, lapping at her pearl diligently, listening as her gasps turned to exerted groans and her muscles started to quiver around his fingers. Doubling his efforts, he waited for that special moment. Just as her orgasm crashed into her, he turned his head and sank his fangs into her inner thigh, drawing out her climax until she was shaking.

Eric discarded his jeans and picked Sookie up, lying her down on the centre of the bed and positioning himself at her entrance. He coated his shaft with her juices and pressed the swollen tip into her soaking channel.

"Are you ready for me?"

"This isnae my first rodeo, big man."

"I am too big for some."

"Shut up and fuck me."

Eric continued gently pushing until he was buried in her to the hilt. He stopped, relishing the feeling of her warm sheath as it gripped his cock tightly. Sookie dug her short nails into Eric's hips, panting as her body acclimatised to his size. Sam was not a small man, but the way Eric's thick shaft stretched her and filled her was sure to ruin her for other men. She squirmed under him, urging him to move.

He thrust slowly but firmly, leaning on one elbow and caressing Sookie's hip and thigh with the other as she wrapped her legs around him. Eric lifted her body and sat her in his lap, resting back on his heels and grasping her ass with both hands as he pumped into her.

Sookie gripped the back of his neck with one hand, rolling her pelvis against Eric's as he sped up his strokes. Eric moved one arm behind her back to support her, hypnotised by her undulating body as she gave as good as she got. He arched her back even more and leaned forward to suck and nip at her aching buds. She gasped and bucked harder against him, ripping a feral growl from his chest.

"Harder, Eric, now."

"Sookie, you are a fascinating creature."

He grinned and lowered her head to the mattress, lifting her hips and forging into her ruthlessly. Sookie could feel she was close to coming apart at the seams and bought her fingers down to her button and rubbing them in small circles over the hard bump.

Eric couldn't tear his eyes away from where they were joined, where she was touching herself so intimately, yet so unashamedly. He could feel and see she was close, from the feel of her slick pussy pulsating around him to the pink flush on her chest. Sookie started to pant and her brow furrowed, all of Eric's heightened senses were being stimulated and he felt his balls tighten.

He grit his teeth and held on, slowing down lightly to keep the feeling from ending too soon. Sookie sobbed in frustration as his speed declined but focussed on the amazing sensations of Eric's large shaft penetrating her and the pressure on her clit. She rubbed faster, her fingers slipping easily over the same spot again and again.

Eric's fingers dug harder into Sookie's soft skin as she trembled beneath him. She came in a torrent of expletives, her muscles squeezing Eric's cock and wrenching his climax from him. He grunted and muttered in a language Sookie had never heard before, tensing his shoulders and pulling her so hard against him; she thought he might split her in two.

They rocked languidly, coming down from their mutual high. It took Sookie some time to get her breath back, but Eric waited until she was calm before he withdrew. He chuckled at her hurried strides to the bathroom until he was hit in the face with a warm washcloth.

"Well, that was ... excitin'."

Sookie smiled at Eric and started picking up the discarded clothes, throwing his on to the bed at his feet as he propped himself up against the headboard with his hands behind his head.

"What makes you think we're done, Miss. Stackhouse?"

**_A/N: I've teamed up with Blakes_Boogie to organise a Festive Fic Exchange - Secret Santa Style! www . fanfiction . net /~sookiessecretsanta - This profile has all the details but if you have any questions, just drop me a PM._ _We've been promoting for seven days now and already have 9 author names in the hat! C'mon, it'll be fun! You know you want to!_**


	9. Wha's roamin in the gloamin?

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype**

**Summary:** Continuation of 'Deid Til its Daurk'. Sookie finds out that Vampires don't give up easily. Can her tenacious Glaswegian spirit help her get out of the mess Hadley put her in? Or will her temper get her into even more trouble?

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to C. Harris.

**Deid Fowk Dinnae Clype (Dead people don't tell tales)**

The next few days found Sookie feeling incredibly self conscious despite her cheerier disposition. Almost everyone commented on her improved mood, and almost everyone thought along the same lines.

_Sookie's in a great mood. She must have gotten laid._

And how. After round two with Eric, Sookie was both pleased and disappointed that her plan to fuck him out of her thoughts had failed. Pleased because it was the best damn sex she could ever hope to have and disappointed because she knew she would only crave his touch even more. She had agreed to let Eric claim her, but she had no idea it would have meant body and soul.

When Thursday came around, Jackie's last day in America, her jovial attitude waned. She had never been alone before and the prospect was daunting. Sookie consoled herself that it wouldn't be forever; Gran would be back home before she knew it.

Sookie had arranged to have Friday off, so she could take Jackie to the airport in New Orleans, but before any of that could happen she had to get through her first face to face meeting with Deidre Merlotte since Sam's funeral. The telepath waited behind the bar and raised an eyebrow when a very well dressed Deidre breezed into the bar jangling the keys to a BMW.

_It's alright for some._ Sookie thought bitterly as Mrs. Merlotte walked around like she owned the place, which was her right as she _did_ own the place. But it rubbed Sookie up the wrong way to know that while she did the dirty work, someone else got the profits. And Sookie knew exactly how much those profits were, she also knew that Deidre knew she knew. So Deidre sashaying into the bar flaunting what Sookie's hard work and dedication had bought her set Sookie's teeth on edge mightily.

It also hadn't gone unnoticed by Lafayette, Sookie could see his jaw tense up when Deidre opened her trap and pissed off everyone in the bar with one, tiny comment.

"There are my employees!"

Holly dropped her tray to her side and looked at Sookie and Lafayette before spinning on her heel and storming away to the kitchen. Deidre poked a thumb in Holly's direction.

"What crawled up her behind?"

Sookie simply shrugged, she was already formulating a plan. "No idea. Shall we get this sorted? You must be very busy."

Deidre nodded and walked down the corridor to the back door.

"Freeloader."

Lafayette muttered under his breath and Sookie had to contain a snort of amusement. She patted him on the shoulder and whispered close to his ear.

"I'm on it, chicklette."

She followed Mrs. Merlotte out through the back door and gasped as she saw a brand new BMW 3 series convertible parked next to her Gran's Buick. There was also a large SUV, to which Sam's trailer was being coupled by two very large Were's.

"Now, Sookie, I've arranged for Herveaux Construction to come out and level this whole area on Monday. Do you have their number so you can contact them in case of any mishaps?"

Sookie nodded and looked pointedly at Deidre's car. "I've hired two more staff but we need two more, maybe even three. And I was hoping you'd consider profit related bonuses and health insurance."

Mrs. Merlotte gasped. "You don't want much do you? After all that there ain't gonna be much left!"

"And there was me thinkin' ye wanted to keep this open cos it was yer Son's dream. That _is_ what ye told me after the funeral. If I remember right ye said 'Sam loved this bar, keepin' it open is the best memorial he could've had'."

Deidre sighed; she had lost sight of her reasoning for not selling Merlotte's after the money started rolling in. "You're right. I had no idea that the bar would make me so much money."

"It's not the bar that makes the money. It's me and Lafayette and Arlene and all the others that work there. Why don't we have a sit down, look at the books and come up with a plan that's good for everyone?"

"You're a good businesswoman Sookie and I'm glad you wanted to take over from Sam. Let's have a chat in the office with some coffee."

Sookie nodded and led the way back to her office, winking at Lafayette as he peeked down the corridor. Two hours later she had negotiated health insurance for the staff and a 50/50 split of the profits on the condition that Deidre would be a sleeping partner and wouldn't have to turn over any money she made on improvements and repairs. Deidre left happy in the knowledge that she'd still be a few hundred dollars better off every month without having to deal with the bar at all and Sookie was only too pleased to let all the staff know about the new arrangement.

"Hookah you's on fire!" Lafayette hugged Sookie tight. "You musta kissed that there blarney stone or somethin' girl."

"No really, I just reminded her o' why she didnae sell the place after Sam died. She's a reasonable woman and that's a start when it comes to stuff like this."

"So, explain to me again how the bonus thing will work?" Holly sat an empty pitcher on the bar and leaned on the surface, dollar signs in her eyes.

"The bar gets 50% of the profits. 20% goes in a fund for improvements and repairs, 10% goes to me, 5% each to Laffy and Arlene and the other 10% gets shared between the rest o' you guys."

"So I get 10% of the profits every month?"

"No. You get a share of that 10%." Sookie sighed, explaining this was going to be harder than she thought. "Like, at the moment there are six of ye's, so at the end of every month you'll get 1.6% of the profits."

"1.6%?" Holly's mouth gaped in offence. "That ain't much Sookie!"

"Currently the bar brings in round about $5,000 a month in profits, so you'd get $40 on top of your usual salary and tips. But with the new family section going in, those profits are going to go up and up."

"An _extra_ $40 a month? At least? Plus we're getting health insurance?"

Sookie nodded, relieved that Holly was finally seeing that she hadn't been screwed over. "The switch over will start next month, the good part is that Deidre has already agreed to pay for the new family area and for Arlene to get her licence for bartending. So there shouldn't be anything coming out of the maintenance fund for a while."

"How long will the family area take to complete?" Lafayette asked.

"Not long at all, couple o' weeks at the most. All they need to do is clear and level the area, put up a fence and the play area then bolt down some picnic benches."

"Do you think an August 20th opening is possible?"

"Founders day? That's for the old fogeys in the Toon Hall!"

"Well maybe it's time that changed?" Lafayette raised his hands in the air in a dramatic gesture. "Merlotte's Bar and Grill – putting the Good Times back into Bon Temps!"

Sookie cocked her head to the side as Holly laughed at him. "Y'know, that's a pretty good catchphrase. We should use that."

"Babycakes I got catchphrases up the wazoo y'all!"

~v~

Adele sat and sipped at her tea, brimming with nerves in the up-market atmosphere of The Willow Tea-room. She was used to Southern Gentility and manners, but this was a whole new ball game. She watched as the waitresses flitted from table to table with their old fashioned black dresses and lace frilled aprons, handing out tea menus and bringing over tiered cake stands full of sugary treats. Sitting next to the ladies of the Glasgow elite with their designer clothes and antique jewellery made her feel like white trash. But the way Billy looked at her made her feel like a Queen.

She had been very impressed that her first outing with Billy had been for afternoon tea. What she had seen and heard of Glasgow social life centred around bars, although they were very nice bars with excellent food, she wasn't much of a drinker. But it gave her a new understanding of Sookie's views on alcohol.

"I was wonderin' if ye would like to come with me to the Botanical Gardens after this, Adele, we could catch the Subway and be there in ten minutes."

"Oh I love plants and gardens! That sounds delightful Billy."

They finished their tea and cake and Adele tried to pay for her half of the bill, which greatly offended Billy but the awkward moment passed and soon they were rushing in the rain to get to the Subway station in Cowcaddens. When they got their tickets, Adele patted the drops from her face and neck with a handkerchief and laughed, she felt alive and young again. Billy was a wonderful Tour Guide, and explained the reasons why the Glasgow Subway was often referred to as The Clockwork Orange and the history of the buildings on Byres Road and the west end as they walked the short distance to the Botanical Gardens.

The walk was wonderful, and Adele was surprised to hear that the gardens were maintained by the local authority and paid for by the people of Glasgow; the entry was free so it could be enjoyed by all of Glasgow's citizens but the highlight was the Kibble Palace. The grand structure took Adele's breath away and she was in awe of the orchids and marble statues. She was inspecting a very rare specimen of Begonia when Billy slowly took his hand in hers.

"Adele, this has been a wonderful day for me. When my Bernie died ten year ago, I never thought I'd look twice at another woman. I'd really like to see ye again."

"I'd like to see you again too, Billy." Silently, to herself, she added 'and what's a holiday without a little romance?'

~v~

Sookie and Jackie found it hard to say goodbye, although they had known each other for a very short two weeks they had been through more than some friends do in a lifetime. The Telepath didn't wait around to see Jackie's plane take-off, she wanted to get driving back from New Orleans before the harsh truth of her loneliness overtook any other emotions. Her journey was silent as was the farmhouse when she stepped inside.

She immediately went back to the Buick and drove to Merlotte's. She had never been this alone before. There had always been someone there for her to go home to. She briefly thought about calling her Gran and telling her that the danger was over, that she could come home now. But she knew that was just selfish. Before Jackie left, Sookie had been happy for her Gran because she was having such a good time in Glasgow. She scolded herself for putting her own needs above her Gran's and went to sit in the bar.

~v~

The next few days passed slowly for Sookie, despite her best efforts to keep busy. She clocked off at 6pm on Monday and went home to change for her meeting with Eric's business associates. As promised, he had sent Bobby with a disguise for her. A wig (in a shade of red that Arlene would call whorish), a tight black vinyl dress that barely covered her ass, a tiny purse and stripper shoes, complete with clear heels and platforms.

She snorted at the outfit and remembered when Ann had taken her to a nightclub called The Cathouse for her 18th Birthday. She would look just like the sexy Goths that would stub out a cigarette in your eye as soon as look at you. Once she had wiggled into the dress, with the help of lots of baby powder, and fixed her wig, she looked like a completely different person. But then again, tonight she _would_ be a different person. Like, acting but more dangerous. She tested the limits on the dress, lifting her knees and striding across the floor. Once she was satisfied that she could run in it if the opportunity called for such an activity, she picked up the purse and set out all the things she might need.

No matter what combination she used, there was no way she could fit her cell phone, gun, lipstick and wallet in there. She swapped out the gun for a small hunting knife but still had no success. Her phone was small, a Motorola V600, but couldn't fit in the purse with the knife – and there was no way she was going out without a weapon. She decided to take her phone but leave in the glove box, after all – the only reason she would need it is if her car broke down.

~v~

Eric waited in his office as his business associates gathered in the main bar. He knew Pam was staring at him from the doorway, but he ignored her questioning glares. Much the same as every night since him and Sookie had sex. Pam was curious and very, very annoyed. Eric never hid things from her, especially when it came to their conquests. On a few occasions they had even shared. But it was unheard of for him to answer her question of 'How was she?' by stating that it was none of Pam's business.

The Vampire Sherriff didn't know what was wrong with him. He felt ... he simply _felt_. Eric didn't _feel_; feelings were something he was beyond in his millennia of survival. He seethed in his chair, thinking that she should have been killed when he was intrigued by her. As if intrigue always led to feelings in every case. Now Eric was faced with emotions, some he had never experienced but knew about from the vast amount of reading he had done. Eric was toe to toe with a woman who challenged him verbally and sexually.

Sookie had surprised Eric, with her appetite and vigour. She had enchanted him with her soft curves and breathless cries. She had excited him with her confidence and demands. In short, Eric was fucked. And he knew it. So did Pam.

"When will Sookie arrive? Your other _guests_ are getting restless." Pam picked at her fingernails.

"I asked her to arrive at 8pm." He checked his watch, 8.02pm. "Hmm ... strange."

Eric searched for the blood tie, it was minimal, vague, she was very close but it would take a strong emotion for him determine anything from her other than location. His concentration was interrupted by pounding at the employee door. Frowning, Pam pulled it open to reveal a very flustered Sookie.

"Sorry I'm late! Bastardin' bag was too wee. Where d'ye want me?"

Eric smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "For now, why don't you just drape yourself over me like a cheap jacket? You _are_ supposed to be my pet bimbo after all. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. I think tonight your name should be ... Lacey."

"Who's Cagney? And, more importantly, why don't _I_ get to be the glamorous blonde?"

"Fine ... Candy, then."

Sookie nodded and mock saluted him before attaching herself to his side like a limpet. The ruse of having Sookie pretend she was a brainless pet worked like a charm. Besides Eric's business associates being annoyed that he thought it was appropriate for her to be there, pawing at him and asking stupid questions. The questions weren't stupid at all; they guided the human's thoughts toward specific things so Sookie could get a better reading from them.

The businessmen grimaced as Sookie sat on Eric's lap and whispered sweet nothings in his ear. Oblivious to the fact she was actually telling him what their thoughts were. Despite her misgivings about the task, Sookie actually found she was having fun. When the meeting was over and all of the secrets had been unearthed, the businessmen left. They were confused as to the purpose of the meeting. No new business or opportunities had been discussed and no deals had been closed. It was all very strange to the humans but they put it down to Eric's Vampiric nature and refrained from questioning his judgement.

Pam followed Sookie and Eric back to the office, salivating over the Telepath's rounded hips as they swayed to and fro in the skin tight vinyl. When Sookie sat on the couch, Pam sped over and claimed the spot next to her before Eric could get there. The Sherriff raised an eyebrow, but perched on the edge of his desk.

"That wisnae so bad." Sookie smiled. "It was a bit fun actually!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed the boring part of our evening." Eric smiled. "Wonderful work Candy."

"Now that your reading is over, you can remove your disguise." Pam grinned.

"I don't have anythin' to change into."

"What a pity." Pam patted Sookie on the shoulder. "You'll just have to be naked then!"

"Get yerself tae fuck!" Sookie spat. "It's bad enough with _him_ bein' a perv, I don't need _your_ lesbian innuendo as well."

"If we could get to more serious business, ladies?" Chastened, Sookie and Pam nodded at Eric. "Tonight, I noticed I couldn't feel you Sookie. I would like you to have some more of my blood, it will enable me to track you and ensure your safety."

"Are those things an issue? You and Pam are the only Supes that know about me, I'm as safe as any other bar manager in America. I'm no plannin' on runnin' off anywhere, so you willnae need to track me. I don't see the need for it."

"It's just in case."

"Well 'just in case', I always carry a weapon and ye know I can take care o' myself."

"Yes, Eric, from what you told me of the ambush by the rednecks, Sookie is more than capable of defending herself. Or is there another reason you would like to be connected to her?"

Pam's smile was sly and her eyes sparkled with mischief. Eric's thoughts raced, if he demanded Sookie take his blood then he would be confirming that Pam was correct in her verdict that he simply wanted to be connected to Sookie. He was still coming to terms with his need for the Telepath himself; it would be a long time before he admitted it to anyone else. Even if that person was his child.

"Fine. But as soon as there is the merest hint that you have been discovered or that you may be in danger then I will not have any arguments about it."

They discussed more about the meeting, and before Sookie knew it – it was 2am and a very large yawn escaped her mouth. Pam bid them farewell and left Fangtasia in search of sustenance. Eric took Pam's place next to Sookie on the sofa and reached over to remove the wig. Sookie made a horrible whining sound when she felt how sweaty and matted her real hair was as she pulled the pins out and shook her head.

"You look like you've been caught in the rain." Eric smiled.

"I more likely look like I've dipped my heid in the deep fryer." Sookie grumbled as she raked her fingers through the knots and used the pins to secure her tresses in a messy bun. "Is there anythin' else ye wanted to talk to me about?"

"Talking is so overrated Lover." Eric stroked his cool fingers up Sookie's thigh. "I can think of many, _many_, things much more interesting than talking."

"Well maybe it's time to stop thinkin' and actually do somethin'?" Sookie licked her lips and fingered the pull on the zipper on the front of her dress.

"Good idea." Eric batted her hand away and tugged at the fastening. "I think it's time to unwrap my present."

"I didnae realise I'd brought ye one." Sookie watched as Eric slowly unzipped the dress, revealing more of her creamy flesh.

"Sookie, every moment with you is a gift."

Before she could say anything else, Eric covered her mouth with his. Their tongues battled for dominance and their hands clawed at each other's clothes. They rolled from the sofa onto the rug on the floor of the office, trying to find the perfect position where as much of their skin was in contact as possible.

Sookie's head lolled back on her shoulders and she groaned wantonly as Eric checked her readiness. When he slid inside her so easily her back arched with pleasure. Sookie knew no other being would fill her like Eric, it was as if he belonged inside her.

Eric stroked, kissed, nibbled and caressed all of Sookie's sensitive spots that he had discovered from their previous encounter. He knew which places caused her to shudder and moan and he took his sweet, sweet time drawing all the different reactions from her. The slow pace was indulgent and Sookie briefly thought that this must be what gourmet sex was like.

Her climax built gradually, sending euphoric waves through her entire body. Every touch, every thrust, even the sound of Eric growling his approval at her reactions, sent her spiralling into an abyss where she could barely remember her own name.

Eric licked at the sheen of sweat on Sookie's neck. The heat emanating from her was beyond anything he had experienced before, his eyes rolled back every time he re-entered her succulent warmth. He tried to hold back as Sookie's orgasm made her tighten around him, but it was so good to let go. Losing himself in her was the happiest he had been in hundreds of years.

~v~

Sookie wobbled to her car as Eric looked on with amusement at her post-coital shakiness. Sex with Sookie was unlike anything he had had with other women, he couldn't get enough of her. But he had duties to undertake and Sookie required rest. He waved from the back door of Fangtasia as the Buick drove by, wondering if it would be worthwhile to request a space in Sookie's home that could be made light proof.

The Telepath drove home in a daze, shifting gear and turning the wheel without really concentrating. It was only when the car sputtered and jerked that she was drawn out of her sex-induced mind-fog. The Buick continued to roll along the road after the engine died; the lights flickered once then went out, leaving Sookie in the pitch black. She turned the key and pumped the gas pedal with no luck.

Sighing, Sookie pulled her cell from the glove box and flipped it open. No reception. She squinted at the thick woods that continued down both sides of the road. She was in the middle of nowhere, with no way of calling for help and it was at least a two hour walk to Bon Temp city limits.

"Okay cokey, back seat it is!"

Sookie got out of the car and popped the trunk, pulling a very ugly afghan from it before opening the back door and tossing the blanket inside. Just as she was about to crawl on to the back seat and lock up the car for an uncomfortable night's sleep, she heard twigs cracking from the other side of the road. Slowly, she reached for her purse and pulled out the knife. Just in case. Standing and turning around in a circle, the Telepath searched with her mind and found two fuzzy brains.

"Who's there?" She said in a calm voice that contradicted the mixture of fear and anticipation the crept through her bones.

A woman stepped out of the woods, accompanied by a feral razorback hog. She held a wand of some sort in her left hand; it had a tuft of something on the end. She was wearing a kind of shift, which was dirty and torn and her mouth was smeared with something dark.

"You belong to the Northman." Sookie nodded, knowing that she had let him claim her in the eventuality that it would protect her if she ran into any other Supes.

"And who, or what, are you?"

The woman smiled and Sookie could see the blood of whatever she had eaten still coating her teeth. "I'm a Maenad. I need a message taken to the Northman."

Sookie shifted her stance as she saw the woman move; somehow she instinctively knew this creature meant to attack her. The knife twitched in her hand as the muscles in her fingers prepared for a fight. When the Maenad moved, the hog moved with her. It was slow and gave Sookie time to crouch, readying herself to spring forward with the weapon.

The Maenad's arm tensed and Sookie ducked as she raised it to strike, thrusting her knife upwards and burying the blade in the Maenad's breast. The creature roared and her eyes blazed with fury as Sookie removed the knife and went to strike again. The Maenad dropped her wand and grabbed Sookie by the throat, cutting off her air supply as she raised her higher off the ground. Sookie wished she had taken more of Eric's blood after all; maybe she would have been stronger, faster ... more.

Sookie kicked and slashed at the air with the knife as the Maenad laughed. "This is one fight you will not win. Yes, this will be a message that Northman cannot ignore."

The Telepath was dropped to the ground, wheezing as air filled her lungs. Sookie's eyes widened and she tried to find the strength to move as the Maenad's claws got closer. She felt the sting of the claws across her neck and brought her hand up to try and hold the ribbons of skin in place. Sookie noticed it getting darker and darker and wondered where the moon went. That was the last thought she had before the blood loss sent her into unconsciousness.

~v~

Eric had been halfway through a report when he felt it. A sharp spike of fear. He flew, literally, out of Fangtasia and toward Sookie. He had to slow down so he could pinpoint exactly where she was, but the longer it took him the harder it was to find her. He roared into the night when the scent of her blood carried on the wind, following that trail to his Lover, he found her, barely alive on the road and surrounded by the scent of wild animal and something else.

"You know what I want Northman."

He heard a cackle and if it were any other human lying in his arms, he would have followed the sound to find who had committed the act in an effort to gain his attention. But this wasn't any other human. It was Sookie. Her heart was in the last throes of giving up. Eric knew it was time. He lapped at her vicious wound as he pressed his open wrist to her mouth, holding her body at the right angle and making sure his blood ran down her throat.

Eric hoped he wasn't too late for this to work. But it would be three days before he would find out.

~FIN~

_A/N: I know, it's lazy, but this has diverged so far from the source material that I struggled to think of ways to keep it going and keep it interesting ... please don't hate me! I just thought this new phase of Sookie's 'life' deserved a new story. Also, the event of Bon Temp Founders day isn't canon – I just made it up. So ... there we go. I didn't say it was the end for Glasgow Sookie – just this particular fic. She'll be back, like Arnie with boobs ...and fangs. Never done Vampire Sookie before, so I thought I'd give it a go.  
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_**On another note - there are just 9 days left to sign up for our Sookie's Secret Santa fic exchange. The cut off to email us to let us know you're interested is Novermber 6th 2011. So, if you want to receive and give a gift one-shot this Festive season then get your bahookie over to www . fanfiction . net /u/3335966/Sookies_Secret_Santa.**  
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